Durban — A year on after the July unrest some businesses are still rebuilding.
Nigel Ward, the president of the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry NPC, said that based on their observations, some businesses had started rebuilding with some already operating at full capacity, while others were still in the process of rebuilding.
The week-long unrest began on July 9 last year.
“Following engagements with our colleagues in the private sector, we believe business leaders are committed to rebuilding their operations in Durban. Therefore, we continue to work closely with the government to ensure adequate support is given to the private sector to fast-track the rebuilding process.”
Research analysts were still busy with their research and data capturing, but he could not give an accurate indicator to measure business confidence in the city of Durban, Ward said. However, he was confident that businesses were committed to rebuilding in Durban and in the province.
“Close to R12.8 billion worth of damage was caused. To dive even deeper, the survey conducted by the city of eThekwini with the Durban Chamber’s assistance revealed the following specific statistics after the unrest in July 2021: value of lost sales and stock – R40 billion; the value of damage to property – R15 billion; the value of lost equipment and machinery – R20 billion; businesses negatively affected – 16 000, and jobs at risk 9 100.”
Ward said he strongly believed that the government and law enforcement needed to take a firmer approach when tackling unlawful situations, and added that accountability needed to be taken.
“We need to see criminal unlawful behaviour being punished, prosecuted and bought to justice to avoid history repeating itself. The government needs to work with the business community to find collaborative proactive and sustainable solutions.”
Pietermaritzburg and Midlands Chamber of Business chief executive Melanie Veness said the economy was struggling to recover because of hesitancy to invest, partly because of a loss of confidence after the July unrest and because the environment was not conducive.
“Load shedding and infrastructure failure are the main contributors to the poor operating environment. Some businesses have fully reopened. Some small businesses have not been able to reopen, others are struggling to achieve pre-unrest levels of operation. Several businesses rationalised and others have chosen to keep part of their businesses open here and to test operations in other localities,” said Veness.
The danger was that, if operations in the other locations turned out to be more feasible, “we’ll see further disinvestment”.
KZN had lost some stores and warehousing to other provinces, she said.
Daily News