Job losses and unemployment are two of the major issues affecting South Africa as the country moves past the first anniversary of the nationwide lockdown introduced to flatten the curve of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Like many in the country, Chatsworth residents have also been severely affected by the economic depression which started on March 26, 2020. Almost a year later there does not seem to be any improvement. Siyabonga Khumalo is among a group of unemployed men who wait along the outskirts of the Montford Shopping Centre in the hope of being chosen to work, even if it is just for the day.
“We wait here almost every day for someone to drive past, looking for general workers. We will work for almost anything and will do any kind of job, just to go home with some money at the end of the day. In my opinion, things are worse this year than it was during the lockdown last year. People used to give us hampers to get through the lockdown when we could not work. But now, jobs are hard to come by. People do their own garden work and no longer need help with small jobs,” he said.
Khumalo said that despite not having a job, he tries his best to always have a mask on and to sanitise as much as possible so that he is healthy enough to seek work whenever a job arrives. Grass-cutter, Joseph Sithole said he walked the streets with his equipment daily in the hope of finding work. Sithole said people were afraid to allow them onto their premises because of the virus.
“Last year, the Indian people in the community really ensured that we were seen to. They expressed such kindness towards us and we are so grateful, but we cannot live on that forever. When the lockdown levels relaxed, I went out in search of work doing what I know best, cutting grass. But I cannot blame people for not allowing us into their yards as they are scared of the virus. I just wish things can get better, we have families to feed and we have to work for our money.”
Lift club drivers were also affected by the lockdown and are still battling to make ends meet a year later. Vernon Naicker, a school lift club driver, said his business took a huge knock when pupils studied from home last year.
“For many months last year, things were really difficult for us. Many lift club drivers chose not to take a full load of children to keep in line with Covid regulations, while others like myself were left without many passengers as children studied from home. With this being my only form of income, it was extremely difficult,” he said.
Naicker said while he has his regular passengers now, he only gets paid for the days that the children attend school. “If I take children to school three days in a week, then I am only getting paid for those days. I have taken a massive knock financially and I know that many others like me are facing the same fate. We do not know when things will get better, but we do know that it will not be anytime soon.”
In his Human Rights Day statement, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the country was currently in the phase of reconstruction and recovery. “Government is working to build a new economy that promises ‘equal opportunity for all’. It is not a fight for our own piece of bread, for our own job to be saved, or for our own health and safety. It is a fight to preserve our common humanity and it means that we must all work together, whether as government, labour, business or communities,” he said.
