South Africa’s 21-day lockdown period starts from midnight. On the African continent, the country has surpassed Egypt with the highest number of confirmed Covid-19 cases, with all nine provinces of the country hit.
With only a few hours to total shutdown, street vendor, Teboho Tsimo, cashes in by selling facemasks, gloves and sanitizers in the Crown Mines area of Johannesburg. Like other small traders, Tsimo’s business will be severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The lockdown was announced on March 23 by the country’s President Cyril Ramaphosa who said a relief fund will be made available for small businesses. But addressing the media the following day, Minister of Small Business Development, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, said any misuse by entrepreneurs will be penalized by a 10% interest rate payment.