JOY SHORT-LIVED AS SOME REOPENED BUSINESSES CLOSED

MBABANE – No operation without permits! While government has relaxed the partial lockdown regulations on businesses as more sectors were allowed to operate from yesterday, some businesses had to be closed by the police.

This is so because when announcing the operation of low-risk, non-essential businesses, the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade, Manqoba Khumalo, stated clearly that the businesses had to operate after having obtained a permit from the ministry.
This, he said, was so that the ministry would ensure that the businesses were those in the sectors listed as non-essential low-risk business categories.

Permit

Businesses owners stated that they were of the view that they could operate while waiting for the permit application as it was not yet clear what was expected of them in order to get the permits.
They stated that they were shocked yesterday morning when members of the different security forces in the country showed up and ordered them to close their businesses.

One of the business owners, who is of Asian origin and runs a furniture shop, said they were having a lot of pressure from their customers who wanted their lay-bys.

When asked how he thought he would make up for the time he had not been operating, he said he was also confused.
“It’s mid-month already and our landlords will be expecting payment come month-end,” he said.
He said they also had to pay their employees.

In Mbabane, most of the low risk non-essential businesses were not operating throughout the day.
Some of the shop operators were seen closing their businesses.
Also, driving school vehicles were seen in the city waiting for clients to honour appointments.

Martha Mathabela, who is a vendor, on the other hand, stated that nothing much had, changed for them as they were still selling as scheduled. She said this was because they operated in small spaces and social distancing would only be observed if they worked in shifts. 
“It is better than before, the more shops opened, the more customers we will get,” she said.

Busy

Mathabela stated that yesterday was not very busy but was better than the other days.
She said they were hopeful that the situation would almost normalise when civil servants returned to work.
Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati said police were acting on the minister’s directive that only businesses with permits were allowed to operate.

She said police were only requesting for permits in the businesses and later advising them to close if they did not have one.
Such chaos and confusion was also witnessed in Manzini yesterday.
One would have been forgiven to think that the partial lockdown had been lifted yesterday as many people were seen walking up and down the streets of the city.

Many were of the notion that all was back to normal in the city. However, this resulted in confusion as they found that most of the shops were not operating.
As they approached the shops, they found doors locked with chains and padlocks while others had their roller doors covering their window panes. One of the shop owners, Abdus Bhuiyan, said he was of the view that they would be operating today.

However, upon arrival in town, Bhuiyan claimed that he was informed by another businessman that they had to go to the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade to get a permit that would allow them to operate between 10am and 3pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.
This will be during the period of the 21-day extension of the partial lockdown.
He is in the business of selling clothes.
“I’m worried I’ll be evicted from my premises as I’ve not been working for the past 20 days and now I’ll open for a few hours, three days a week.”
The disappointed businessman said he would head to the ministry’s offices to seek the said permit to operate his clothing shop.
Aggrieved
Another businessman, who runs a clothing shop and is aggrieved by the current status quo, is Monir Hossain.
Hossain last operated his shop on March 27.
Hastily, he had to close the shop due to pressure from the police.
Yesterday, Hossain did not bother opening his shop but instead, went to the ministry to secure a permit that would allow him to operate. However, despite pursuing this route, the businessman had reservations about the whole operation.
“Who will we be selling the clothes to if people are home?”
This, he said, was a frustration to him as come month-end, the landlord would expect rentals yet he had not been working the whole month due to the rigmarole between the ministry and the police.

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