Lesotho- Vendors on the brink

(MENAFN- The Post) MASERU -DAILY, 'Malillo Mahaba* is at the main taxi rank by dawn, and only leaves at dusk selling fruits and vegetables.
But try as she may, Mahaba rarely makes enough to put food on the table for her family for the day.

'I can't even make M500 in a week,' she said this week, adding that the money can hardly meet her family's basic needs.
'I have so many responsibilities, including supporting my mother and siblings,' she said.

It has not always been like this. Things were a little bit better before the outbreak of Covid-19, and the subsequent lockdown that closed down much of Lesotho's commercial activity.
'Our lives have not been the same,' said the single mother of two.
Even though street vendors did not directly lose their jobs unlike those who work in the formal sector, their businesses have been severely affected by Covid-19.

Many, such as Mahaba, can no longer sustain their families.
Mahaba, who graduated from Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (Luct) with a marketing degree but was forced into vending due to lack of jobs, said she has lost 80 percent of her income since Covid-19 struck and the lockdown followed in March.

'I am the only breadwinner in my family and since the lockdown business has been badly affected,' said the 29-year-old, who has been looking after her family since 2008 when she used her paltry National Manpower Development Secretariat college grant to ensure the family did not go hungry.
Lilahloane Mosia is another young woman struggling to make ends meet in the Covid-19 era.

She has been the family breadwinner since the age of 16, quitting school to provide for her little sister.
'We had nowhere to stay as my stepfather took everything after our mother died. The only job I could get was that of being a nanny,' Mosia said.
She said her employer promised to pay her M500 monthly but the money never came.

'She said my sister and I were also eating her meals,' she said. 'I couldn't even manage to buy toiletries. I literally had to beg her for everything.'
She said they stayed there for a year until they moved out and slept in one of the garages in the city without the owner's knowledge.

'We got lucky because the moment (the owner) realised what was happening she took us in and offered me a job of promoting her beauty business,' she said.
'With my first M250 salary, I managed to pay rent and find a pre-school for my little sister,' she said.

The lockdown has been devastating, she said.
'I am no longer working. I do laundry for people for survival. I am depressed because I am worried how my little sister will turn out considering the struggle she is experiencing,' Mosia said.
'It's hard but I pray that one day I will find a job,' she said.

Mahlomola Mathibolle started looking after his family when he was only 19, and the Covid-19 pandemic has hit him hard.
'It's very draining,' said Mathibolle, who took over the breadwinner role after his father suffered a stroke.

His sister was retrenched as a factory worker a year later and she moved in with her two children, forcing him to find a part time job to supplement the stipends from the NMDS, which at times were delayed.
Mathibolle was studying civil engineering at Lerotholi Polytechnic at the time.

'I couldn't focus. Being a student and a breadwinner at the same time was too much and my performance dropped badly. It was by the grace of God that I finished my education,' he said.
He got lucky when he got a job earning M2 500 a month and things improved for the family.
He is back in the red, thanks to Covid-19.

'I lost my job during the lockdown…it was very painful,' he said.
'My sister whom I have been supporting together with her children has found a temporary job as a domestic worker for a month but she is yet to be paid,' said Mathibolle, who is now a barber at the taxi rank.
Mosonngoa Maselo was working at a factory in Maseru West Industrial Area when Covid-19 hit and she was retrenched.

She had been the head of the family since the age of 14 because 'our mother was never around to raise us'.
She says she is also supporting his brother's family and her other two siblings.

'I pay for everything as a sole breadwinner and I just realised that trying to please all of them is my weakness,' said the mother of two.
'I am drowning in debt. I have been getting half my salary since the outbreak of the pandemic,' she said.
'I can't take it anymore… my insurance policies are lapsing,' she said, breaking into tears.
'I am barely surviving and I am afraid this could lead to depression,' she said.

A group of youths recently protested in Maseru to press the government to provide jobs for them.
In response to the march that turned bloody after the police shot and injured some protesters, Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro said he is working hard to attract investors and create jobs.

Dr Majoro said he has set up an Investment Promotion Committee made up of ministers and experts, while the government has been regularly meeting stakeholders from the business community.
'The Cabinet is working tirelessly to look into the issues of youths, and very soon, the government will announce its plans after engaging the youth's representatives,' Dr Majoro said.

The Lesotho Socio-Economic Assessment 2020, focusing on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, estimates that youth unemployment is at 32.8 percent. It is even higher among youths aged between the ages of 15 and 24, at 43.2 percent.
The report, published by the UNDP last month, states that the Covid-19 crisis is expected to increase the poverty rate by between 0.2 to 0.9 percentage points in 2020.

Poverty rates are expected to increase marginally from 49.7 percent to 49.9 percent in 2020 followed by a recovery in poverty reduction in 2021 through to 2022, according to the report.
In the worst-case, the poverty rate will increase from 49.7 percent to 50.6 percent in 2020 and thereafter decline slowly, reaching 50 percent in 2022, states the report.

The impact will be higher on already vulnerable groups than on the general population, with the increase expected to be higher in rural areas and to disproportionately affect women, according to the study.
'The falling per capital income among those affected by lockdowns and layoffs, including the textile sector and migrant labourers, will have a stronger impact on rural households and will reverse gains made in poverty reduction, human security and social development.'

The study observes that to address increasing poverty and vulnerability, the government is building a strong shock-responsive social protection system.
Currently, Lesotho spends about 4.6 percent of GDP on social support, which is well above the 1-2 percent spent by most developing countries.

'The adverse impact of Covid-19 will increase the need for greater coverage of vulnerable populations by social protection systems,' the study says.
'This will put additional pressure on the government budget for increasing coverage of the current social protection programmes, as there are no safety nets for informal sector employees.'

• Name changed

'Mapule Motsopa

MENAFN24112020000229011070ID1101179439