A Day In The Life Of…

SIX MONTHS INTO THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC IN SOUTH AFRICA, THE FATE OF MOST SMALL BUSINESSES REMAINS UNCERTAIN. THE FEW LEFT ARE STRUGGLING TO SURVIVE. SKILLED LABORERS ARE WITHOUT JOBS AND THE COUNTRY FACES AN UNEMPLOYMENT CRISIS. ON THE FOLLOWING PAGES ARE SNAPSHOTS OF SOME PARTS OF THE ECONOMY SLOWLY CRAWLING BACK TO LIFE.

- MOTLABANA MONNAKGOTLA

BUSINESS WAS GOING WELL FOR JOHNNY ZULU, the owner of a 20-year-old salon named K&S Beauty in Johannesburg, before Covid-19. But ever since the state-imposed lockdown that unfolded in various stages in the country, he says he has lost more than half of his customers.

“I am not making money like I used to. Most customers say they fear for their lives and the virus,” rues Zulu. “I had no income, I had to make means to pay my rental. I survived through house calls.”

To minimize the risk of clients getting infected, Zulu has now employed a new staff member so customers don’t have to wait in queues outside, and he has also started working on appointments.

In this image, Zulu is wearing PPE as he works on a client, and as he also awaits another customer who is late for an appointment.

A FULLY-LOADED TAXI LEAVES THE CROWDED WINNIE MANDELA taxi rank at Kempton Park, east of Johannesburg on a busy week day. All passengers are to mandatorily wear masks and sanitize before boarding the vehicles.

Sifiso Vilakazi, a taxi owner and former professional South African soccer player, says during Level 5 of the lockdown in South Africa, most drivers lost their daily income and their families went hungry. “Now, since people are going back to work, we have more commuters and things are slowly getting back to normal,” says a hopeful Vilakazi.