Relief fund angers BEE non-compliant business owners in KZN This article has been updated with an apology acknowledging that the minister never said a business must be 51% black owned to qualify for state support.
‘Even though I am a woman and employ eight staff, I do not qualify for financial relief because I am not a certain race,’ says one owner, though government says this is a misconception.
While a range of debt relief measures have been put into place by President Cyril Ramaphosa to help small and medium-sized businesses, some have already been overwhelmed by large overheads and without any income to the end of April, when the lockdown is scheduled to end. “Even though I am a woman and employ eight staff, I do not qualify for financial relief because I am not a certain race. I do not have a cash buffer to keep me going and will have to close my doors permanently. The effects of this are far-reaching,” she said.
Ilembe Chamber of Commerce CEO Cobus Oelofse said: “We have urged the government structures that we participate in not to aggravate the circumstances of destitute workers purely because their employers are white-owned businesses. Unfortunately, the funds that are uniformly available have been oversubscribed and in some instances closed for applications.”
“Unless we help them all, regardless of classification, this will lead to extreme social and economic injustice. Perhaps exclusion is not the best way to honour the president’s call for togetherness in what amounts to war,” said Swanepoel.
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