Hit hard by unrest? Government has earmarked R4bn for businesses to rebuild

Nearly R4bn will be reprioritized to help businesses hard hit by the unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, said trade and industry minister Ebrahim Patel in a media briefing on Thursday. 

The briefing was preceded by the minister's visit to affected areas in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, including Soweto and Alexandra townships. The government interacted with more than 200 businesses affected by the unrest. 

“A package has been put together where the department of trade & industry and small businesses has reprioritized R1bn of funding from other programmes and will be shifted now to this response fund. This will be supplemented by R1.3bn that the National Treasury will make available.”

The Industrial Development Corporation earmarked an additional R1.4bn and the NEF [National Empowerment Fund] R200m, bringing the total to R3.9bn. The minister said this fund was expected to increase as more sectors chip in.  

Patel said 10,200 jobs are at risk, with most of the affected businesses in KwaZulu-Natal. He said among the biggest challenges faced by businesses is that 40% of them were uninsured for incidents of violence and looting, leaving them vulnerable to permanent closure. 

Parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng were embroiled in violence which saw the looting of businesses and destruction of properties earlier this month.

Protests started in KwaZulu-Natal and were initially linked to demands for the release of former president Jacob Zuma from the Estcourt Correctional Centre before they escalated into unrest which later spread to Gauteng.

Patel said it would take some businesses a month to rebuild, while others gave a longer time frame of more than a year.