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Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Gwanda Correspondent
SOME traders in Gwanda have vacated shops to avoid accumulating rentals when they are not conducting any business during the lockdown.

Government has said people are exempted from paying rentals during the lockdown but money owed would be paid when restrictions have been lifted.

However, in interviews yesterday, some traders said they had removed their wares from shops and placed them in their homes.

Rentals for shops in the central business district (CBD) range from about US$100 to US$200 for small shops.

At business centres in the high-density suburbs, rentals range from R1 000 to R2 000. As a cost cutting measure, traders share space in shops and contribute to pay rent.

Ms Melody Moyo who shares a shop in the CBD where she operates her clothing business said it had become difficult for her to pay US$100 every month.

“The rent for our shop is US$200 and to ease the burden of the cost I have been sharing the shop with someone else and we are paying US$100 each.

“It’s been over a month since the lockdown came into effect and we stopped operating.

“We talked to our landlord and asked him to be lenient with us and allow us to pay half of the rent as we haven’t been working,” she said.

“However, he refused to entertain us and said he wanted the rent in full as our wares are in the shop. I then saw it best to remove my wares as I can’t afford to pay rent for the coming month while I’m not working. When things get back to normal, I hope to go back to operating from the shop if no one would have occupied it. In the meantime, my wares are at my home and I’m selling them from there.”

Another trader, Mr Norman Sibanda said he was paying R800 for a small space in a shop in the CBD where he sells cell phones and other accessories. Mr Sibanda said he had since vacated the shop as he could not afford paying rent.

In an interview Ministry of Industry and Commerce Matabeleland South provincial deputy director, Mr Richmond Ncube said while some traders had vacated shops because of rentals, others had removed their wares following a spate of unlawful entry and theft cases in the CBD.

“Some traders have seen it best to vacate shops in order to evade paying rentals as people are now living on a hand to mouth basis.

“With their shops closed during the lockdown some are finding it difficult to pay rentals while others are trying to avoid rentals accumulating while they are not operational,” he said.

“Others have removed their wares leaving shops empty because of security threats.

“There have been a number of break-ins in shops in the CBD and traders have seen it best to take their wares to their homes for safekeeping while awaiting the lockdown to end.”

Mr Ncube said there was need for traders to identify special markets and use digital platforms to advertise and sell their products through electronic transactions while waiting for regulations to be relaxed for them to trade again.

He said this could be a viable strategy for SMEs and even big companies to boost their businesses. — @DubeMatutu