The Big Issue #285
- 20 May – 19 June 2020
Lockdown
The Big Issue, as a social enterprise operating as an NGO, finds itself between a rock and a hard place. We do not seem to fit into the neat categories of the lockdown funds’ criteria. Small business grants offered by government and philanthropic foundations are loans of varying type and order.
While waiting, we have initiated our own Vendor Lockdown Relief Fund as our way of providing an emergency stipend on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. We have raised R60 000 thus far, which has enabled us to distribute R100 to each vendor for six weeks. This is thanks to Novus Print, NGO Uthando, Bright Future Trust (UK) and Fondation Ipsen (France). They have been amazing in their financial support of this initiative and our organisation as a whole.
Tourism’s waiting game
When tourism entrepreneur Cathy Oosterwyk established her tour operator business in 2006, she started out as a one-woman show with a nine-seater van. Today, Fairest Cape Meander Tours has 19 employees and supports three freelance tour guides. One of her biggest concerns is the impact that her company’s financial losses will have on the people she employs. It’s not only the livelihoods of her employees that weighs heavily on her heart. As chairperson of the Western Cape chapter of Women in Tourism (WiT), Cathy represents the interests of female entrepreneurs in the tourism sector. WiT Western Cape is a non-profit organisation that was established by the national Department of Tourism in 2015. One of nine chapters established in each province, it supports, upskills and advances women in the tourism and hospitality industries.
Flattening the curve
Dr Clio Pillay, a Cape Town medical doctor who is currently based in the United Kingdom, shares eight lessons South Africans can learn from countries most impacted by the global coronavirus pandemic.
CCID locks in on safety
In the first three days of South Africa’s lockdown, the Cape Town Central City Improvement District (CCID) caught scores of criminals attempting to break into businesses and cars in the deserted Cape Town central business district (CBD). The crimes were sporadic and opportunistic, confirms CCID CEO Tasso Evangelinos. The arrests raised the CCID’s safety and security department’s success rate of catching criminals to 98%.
BUY A DIGITAL COPY NOW!
More from this Issue:
- All
- Agents of Change
- City Life
- Feature
- News
Nature’s inspiration “Everything you can imagine is real.” – Pablo Picasso The Big Issue art and writing classes are offered by Elaine Millin, and form part […]
May 20, 2020
Despite challenging circumstances, the Cape Town Central City Improvement District continues to uphold safety in the CBD during the national lockdown.
May 20, 2020
Dr Clio Pillay, a Cape Town medical doctor who is currently based in the United Kingdom, shares eight lessons South Africans can learn from countries most impacted by the global coronavirus pandemic.
May 20, 2020
Entrepreneurs in the local tourism and hospitality industries, much like just about every sector of society, anxiously await the dust of the coronavirus pandemic to settle so they can begin picking up the pieces.
May 20, 2020
Big Issue vendor Joseph Klink longs to be at his pitch and interact with his valued customers. We spoke to him halfway through the national lockdown.
May 19, 2020
Like many of his peers, Big Issue vendor Mlungisa Nkomityhoboza is struggling. Halfway through the national lockdown, he has run out of resources to provide for himself and his family.
May 4, 2020
