Small to medium-sized businesses in South Africa are starting to feel the knock-on effects of China being locked down due to the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.
Chad Marthinussen, the co-founder of Wave Innovate technology company, said that the coronavirus has hampered their growth and like most companies, their products are all manufactured in China.
“We’ve got stock that’s been stuck in China for about two months. Most of our goods are electronic and it’s quite dramatic the way it’s affecting everything,” said Marthinussen.
Brad Bodsworth, South African Director for Prosupps, Mutant and Betancourt SA supplements, imports multiple products from the United States as well as Europe says rand dollar exchange rate has knocked the prices of his products.
“The product costs more because of various reasons. The international and domestic shipping costs more, this affects the 15% VAT and 20% duty,” says Bodsworth.
“This means I would need to charge more in my wholesale price and on top of that, the retailer also needs to add his markup.
“A lot of the protein used in domestic products are also imported from overseas and comes from China itself.
“So don’t think for one second it’s only the international products who are affected,” he said.
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