Johannesburg - Local entrepreneurs and business owners of the popular township economic hub, Vilakazi Street in Orlando West, Soweto, are concerned about the future of their enterprises following the imminent liquidation of the Nelson Mandela House.
The tourist attraction, which is the late former president’s home, has been closed for business for more than a month and the local businesses are feeling the pinch.
This follows reports that the museum is being liquidated to pay off debt incurred by the Soweto Heritage Trust, to which Nelson Mandela had donated the house.
Local entrepreneur Themba Mlaba — who has been selling beaded, wooden sculptured animals and locally produced products at the corner opposite the iconic Mandela House for the past three years — told The Star that business had slumped and his livelihood had been affected.
"Business is dry, on other days I don't make much. My business relies mainly on foreign tourists , who after the tour of the house shop around for some souvenirs to take home. Since the closure, not many people have been coming. Even those that come leave disappointed when they can't enter the house and no one buys when they can't fulfil the main reason for coming to Vilakazi Street," he lamented.
Mlaba said he used to make a good R3 000 a day when business was booming, but now he and his fellow entrepreneurs were lucky if they made R100.
"I can barely make ends meet. I'm behind on rent and my daughter’s fees are outstanding and my youngest is starting varsity next year. At this rate, I don't know what to do. This liquidation has really affected me badly.
“I had hoped with the easing of restrictions I would be able to get back to work and make up for lost time and income. Now we are faced with this liquidation," Mlaba said.
Other restaurants have also started to feel the pinch and those that have not are aware of the effects this may have on their businesses in the coming days and months.
Nexdor Restaurant manager Sifiso Mthethwa said although the establishment was not highly dependent on foreign tourists, he had noticed a huge drop in numbers in most restaurants.
"We are losing a lot of business in the early morning. The tourist or visitor trend is that most locals come to the restaurant after 5pm and with the tourists gone we lose our morning customers," he said.
The restaurant has been running since 2012 and Mthethwa said he has never seen it do this badly.
He added that they had gone from stocking 100% to 10%.
In addition to the crippling lockdown and regulations, the business was making just enough to pay its staff.
"We are trying, but the stats are not good. We are not making much money. With the liquidation added to the previous months, it's bad. Personally we can go two weeks without seeing a tourist and those are the people that make money (for us) during the day," Mthethwa said.
Sakhumzi Maqubela, owner of the famous African cuisine restaurant Sakhumzi, said even though the happenings at the Mandela House have not affected his business yet, he was concerned that he might be affected in the near future.
"When I started my restaurant in 2001, it was because we had the Nelson Mandela Museum. We had the famous Vilakazi Street because of Hector Pieterson and Archbishop Desmond Tutu as a destination of choice here in Soweto.
“Granted, the Mandela House as a museum is an attraction. If the situation with that house continues, we might feel the pinch," he said, adding that the advent of Covid-19 and the lockdowns have also resulted in a scarcity of tourists.
He said before Covid-19, his restaurant attracted 200 foreign tourists on a quiet day, and on a busy day they would be about 450. That was because of the Mandela Museum.
He said if the Mandela House was completely shut, foreign tourists would no longer see a reason to come to Vilakazi Street. He added that local tourism was not as lucrative as foreign tourism.
Maqubela has called on the government to save the most famous house on Vilakazi Street.
The Star