LOCKDOWN restrictions have been particularly hard on the tourism and hospitality industry worldwide. When South Africa's borders were shut, at the end of March last year, and level five restrictions came into effect, holidays were cancelled and bookings dried up almost instantly.
Suddenly, tour bus drivers had no-one to ferry on sightseeing excursions. Guest houses were forced to close. Many people lost their jobs. South Africa now has the highest unemployment rate in the world. A year and a half later, the nation is still counting the cost of an extended and expensive lockdown. The tourism sector is slowly starting to pick up and there is growing optimism about economic recovery. While it has been a long, hard slog to this point, it hasn't been all doom and gloom. Among the despair, stories of hope and resilience have emerged. Many people were forced to “make another plan” and explore different career paths. Some with inspiring levels of success.
Husband and wife Gisele and Grant Gregory, from Richwood, were flying high in the travel industry pre-lockdown.
“We were living our best lives,” recalled Gisele.
“And then Covid struck. We spent the first few months (of lockdown) down in the dumps, really frustrated. When savings started running out, we knew we had to make a plan,” said Gisele.
Their Plan B couldn't be more different from the industry they both spent nearly a decade enjoying. Gregory pivoted to carpentry, while Gisele started a meal delivery service with fresh produce from home. Business has been booming.
“I am absolutely loving it,” said Giselle.
“I have never worked so hard in my life. It is the most physically exhausting job I have ever done. I cook from 5amg till 8pm or 9pm. Everyone places their orders, salads, healthy stuff, for the whole of the next week. Everything is in jars. And it all lasts for up to six days,” said Gisele.
Despite the tiresome grind, Giselle said the most rewarding part of the work has been the positive feedback from her clients.
“I receive messages from people who say they have lost weight or have gotten off their diabetes medication. Or I have just made their week easier because they don't have to cook. It is so rewarding. I am just so excited to expand the business and maybe open a deli one day,” said Gisele.
Grant's woodwork operation began with handmade desks for people working from home. He sold those for R1 000 each. Today he owns two carpentry shops.
“It is an incredible growth rate. I still don't know where it is going, but I know it is going to be something phenomenal,” he told Weekend Argus proudly.
Ryan Strauss, 35, was another casualty of the tourism industry, which ground to a halt in lockdown. The former tour guide was forced to spend his savings to survive. Seven months without income took its toll on his personal life. He separated from his wife of five years. Strauss decided to venture into insurance brokerage. And he hasn't looked back.
“I went through training and started working in the insurance industry on November 1. I am doing people's life cover, disability insurance, retirement funding, savings and investments,” he said passionately.
“It's been a different journey, a new experience, and a new skill. Having to restart my life and go into a new career, to reinvent yourself is not easy," said Strauss.
Siseko Gubangxa, a South Africa chef, worked at one of the top hotels in Qatar. He was visiting family in Cape Town, when lockdown level 5 struck. Getting a job in the culinary industry had been difficult for the 39-year-old, so Gubangxa dipped his toe in the property game. He works for a company that rents out high end homes and apartments, in the Camps Bay. Gubangxa also began his own food business, Buns and Beyond Burger Company, from his Blouberg home.
“I do a gourmet A5 quality Waygu beef burger. I grind the meat myself. I do organic chicken burgers as well. Everything is charcoal grilled, so you are getting that layer of flavour profile which is smoked. And everything is done in-house, even the buns and sauces,” said Gubangxa.
Gubangxa said his dream was to open a sit-down restaurant, featuring his gourmet burgers.
“I want to do everything on wood grills at this restaurant. So the only electricity we'll ever use at this restaurant is for refrigeration and the lights. Everything else gets done on South African indigenous wood,” he said.
Gillian Simpson, from Lansdowne, has another story worth mentioning. She lost her nearly 14-year long job as a manager of a boutique guest house, in Newlands, during the lockdown. Now, a made-to-order food business, from home, has been generating a lot of interest. Simpson says orders for her koeksisters have increased since her sweet treats were featured in a recent Weekend Argus article.
All around Cape Town, and in South Africa, ordinary people are turning their misfortunes into opportunities. A timely reminder that the country is indeed alive with possibilities.