Ishmael Mkandla
KENMOUR based business woman Queen Elizabeth Ncube, 68 has said she has never heard of any Covid-19 relief package for distressed small to medium enterprises and large corporates.
Government in 2020 said it has set aside funding to rescue companies suffering from Covid-19 shocks.
Ncube, who runs a restaurant and grocery shop in Kenmour along the Bulawayo to Lupane highway, said her business is on the brink of collapse weighed down by Covid-19 aftershocks.
“I don’t think I will be able to recover from the losses I incurred as result of the lockdowns,” said Ncube.
“In this part of Lupane I never heard of any beneficiary of the Covid-19 rescue package. It is something we only hear about from the radio and from the grapevine,” she added as she appealed to the government to raise awareness on Covid019 rescue packages to save businesses in distress in the district.
Meanwhile, Ntandoyenkosi Nkomo who runs a fabrication and welding business at the Kenmour business centre was hopeful that the easing of lockdown restrictions will breathe life into their ailing businesses.
“We are grateful that government has finally eased the lockdown; we are working now and people are back into their construction activities placing orders for door frames, window frames, sliding gates and the like,” Nkomo said.
Like Ncube, Nkomo is banking on the government’s rescue package to give a new lifeline to his business.
“We still waiting for the rescue packages promised by government…when that happens definitely we will be back to our usual ways of doing business.”
