By Seleoe Nonyane
Some of the individuals and street vendors who had ventured into the business of selling masks during the worst times of the Covid-19 pandemic say that the business will soon come to an end because the masks are no more in huge demand.
This after, Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro announced last week Monday that most of the Covid-19 restrictions have been removed.
One of the removed restrictions is the wearing of masks which he said was no more mandatory.
Following a marked relaxation of such restrictions, street vendors say they have seen the sale of masks deteriorate which has compelled them to sell what they have with them and shut down the business for good.
A woman who buys masks in bulk and sells them to some shops and individuals said that the statement of Majoro has caused her business to collapse. She is worried that she may not be able to recover all her money so that she can move on to another business.
She said she had stocked a lot of boxes with the aim of selling them before Majoro’s announcement. However, her business has not been doing well as she said that the demand for masks is close to zero.
“I have a lot of stock that I cannot even count that I need to sell out because all my money went to this business and I need to recover it and think of something else that can make profits.
“In a day I would sell about M50 boxes and I sold a box for M15 so now I had to decrease the price to M10 which means that I will not be making the profit that I had expected and I am scared that I may not fully recover my money.
“I still have a group of factories who are still using masks that I provide masks for but I am afraid that they will not be using them soon and I will have made a loss because all my hope is on the factories,” she said.
She said she would love to be assisted by the government and health centres to buy her stock thinking that their facilities are still using masks.
She also felt betrayed by the government because the state administration did not consider their business when making the decision to put an end to the use of masks.
She though they should have been notified in time that such restrictions would be halted or reduced. That, she argued would give them sufficient time to prepare for the situation. She said she knew that the wearing of masks would inevitably come to end because it was obvious that the Covid-19 pandemic infections had decreased.
A street vendor who sells fruits, snacks, and masks in front of the city centre, Lepolesa Sephaka from Thaba-Tseka who now resides at Upper Thamae in order to make a living for his family said that since the prime minister announced that it is no more mandatory for one to put on a mask because the sale of the masks has decreased enormously.
Sephaka said that although some customers still buy masks, he will not buy more stock of masks after his stock is sold out imagining he would run at a loss.
“After my stock has been sold out, I will be leaving the mask business for good because there is no market anymore for masks and I am scared if I do purchase them I will not make any profits.
“This has hit my business very hard because, before the prime minister’s announcement even when the fruits would not sell the masks would sell and I was able to put food on the table. So, right now I am worried about how I will move forward from this,” he said.
Another street vendor who sells nartjies and masks along the Maseru Mall circle said that he cannot wait for his stock to sell out so that he can say goodbye to his mask business because it is no more serving its purpose.
Khutliso Ramoshabe from Qoaling in Maseru said that selling masks was the best business decision he has ever made because it was doing so well and he was able to achieve a lot but is now worried it will soon collapse.
“Normally, in a day the box of 50 masks would sell out and I would make a profit of M80. However, since the prime minister made the announcement I only sold about 2 masks per day and this has impacted the business negatively.
“I used to sell one mask for M2 but now when a person says they have M1 or 50 lisente I provide it just because I want the stock to sell out,” Ramoshabe said.
