Entrepreneur calls for clarity on coronavirus relief

Spira Tlhankane | Friday April 3, 2020 21:04

 

Entrepreneur calls for clarity on coronavirus relief

“Yes we don’t support the idea of being spoon-fed by the government, hence the establishment of our businesses. But there should be formal communication between banks and clients also on what is going to happen during the lockdown period,” Lebopo Bulayani an entrepreneur and owner of Faciality Beauty Spa in Gaborone told Arts & Culture in an interview.

While the government has guaranteed to give eligible business affected by COVID 19 access to credit, Bulayani said the dreaded virus has been nothing but a killer to their businesses as much as they cry for the lives lost.

“We live and depend on the money we make through our small businesses, pay rent and have staff to pay. Being an entrepreneur has its own challenges. But we always have a plan to do business and be able to go on with business. But being told that we have to close down without any plan has been the hardest phase we had to come across.

I personally had to argue with my landlord that I wouldn’t be able to pay rent for the month of April. Let alone the last week of March as that’s our peak period and she told me that she pays mortgage with that money and the bank won’t stop deducting so there’s no how I can stop paying,” she revealed.

Bulayani added that she tried to be on her shoes but at the same time she wont get money to pay her rent.  She expressed fear that landlords are going to take them out of their houses and they will have to start from scratch when the virus fades away.

“Yes no one anticipated the virus anytime soon. But there should be measures in place to help the entrepreneurs at this time. All we need is how will we survive. Let us not be left out in the midst of it all.

All we pray for now is for COVID-19 to clear and we get our lives back to normal. Beauty industry is all about physical contact and I understand the measures in place but what happens in the mean time,” she worryingly said.  Bulayani also said they are all left with questions and confusion as to how they will survive and how life after coronavirus will be. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development is yet to provide more details on the criteria and implementation of the new measures to assist businesses.