Small business owners closing shop and feeling the financial squeeze
At the beginning of the lockdown, the government embarked on the difficult task of simultaneously protecting lives and livelihoods during the pandemic, but recent data shows that businesses are still folding.
In January, StatsSA announced that the overall number of companies that have been liquidated increased by 20.5% in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.
This decline has resulted in a 14.2% year-on-year increase in the number of liquidations. The list of companies that are intending to shut their doors permanently is also growing.
One of the casualties has been the transport company Unitrans Passenger’s Greyhound buses, which will cease to operate this month after 37 years. The company will also close its Citiliner bus service. Unitrans Passenger said it has been operating in a challenging environment, now exacerbated by Covid-19.