The Year That Changed Everything

2020. Unexpected. Unprecedented. The year a virus tore through the core of our being, and assailed our health systems and the wellbeing of our economies. Its effects ricocheted through every street, every alley of South Africa. Forbes africa trained its lens on the new reality the year is leaving behind.

- Motlabana Monnakgotla And Chanel Retief

The Last Mile

When Kagiso Ramphela (above) started Ramphela Funerals, a funeral parlor, just before Covid-19 struck South Africa, he never anticipated what was in store. Deemed essential services during the pandemic, his business, in a bizarre twist of fate, picked up. “I don’t want to say business is booming because it sounds like I am saying for business to boom, people must die. But what I will say is I think things have been fair to us,” Ramphela says, scratching his head, when we meet him at his office in Soweto, Johannesburg. In this business, he always expects the unexpected, and this could mean calls in the middle of the night, from harried relatives requesting caskets for their loved ones. Ramphela needs to also ensure his staff is protected and safe from the virus at all times, whilst providing support to grieving families.

Coping With Loss