‘Knysna businesses are more vulnerable due to 2017 fires’
With businesses globally facing difficult times as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, this is even more the case in Knysna, where businesses are more exposed and vulnerable than most towns as they are still recovering from the adverse effects of the 2017 fires on the town's economy.
According to Greater Knysna Business Chamber (GKBC) board member Evelyn Pepler, the effect of Covid-19 and the lockdown on Knysna businesses have been the final straw.
"Ultimately, the support structures we thought we had secured for all eventualities did not endure. The reality is that Knysna businesses were even more exposed and vulnerable than most other towns. The
June 2017 fires severely affected our town's economy. It took roughly two years to rebuild and reopen businesses. The fires had a significant knock-on effect on the entire Knysna tourism business community. It was like starting a business from scratch; it takes at least five years for a business to become established," she said.
"Our businesses are struggling to hold on. We are only now at Level 3 and tourism businesses may only start operating at
Level 2. Who knows when that will be? The coordination of opening businesses does not align with the opening of our borders and the eventual influx of our tourists on which we so heavily rely."
A survey conducted on about 500 business owners in Knysna, compiled by the GKBC, revealed a dire situation according to Pepler.
It showed, among others, that few businesses managed to receive the government's UIF/Ters three-month wage support for their staff and that few succeeded in securing funding for their businesses, while 41% indicated they had applied for funding assistance.
"The bulk of our responses came from tourism businesses, which are going to be the last to be allowed to open in Level 2, along with the beauty industry, hairdressers and spas.
“If these businesses cannot be saved, then neither will jobs."
She said many business owners are in dire straits, and that the business chamber rallied to create a fund that would offer food parcels to business owners who do not qualify for assistance from the other initiatives.
"Money from private donors and fundraising initiatives raised R85 000, allowing us to deliver 180 food parcels to over 100 businesses. This initiative will continue; however, since most businesses are back in operation, we plan to focus on the hospitality and tourism businesses, as well as the hairdressers and beauty industry that are still under lockdown," she said. According to Pepler, Tourism Business Council SA (TBCSA) and Southern African Tourism Services Association (Satsa) are lobbying to unlock inbound aviation and travel to South Africa.
"The message they are sending out is that South Africa is tourism-ready. GKBC has joined the George Business Chamber and various other organisations in support of their lobbying to get George airport reopened."