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Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Gwanda Correspondent
TAILORS in Gwanda are cashing in on the Covid-19 pandemic by producing reusable face masks which they are selling to residents, institutions and companies in the town.

The tailors who are operating from their homes are using social media to market their products. They are charging R20 or US$1 for a reusable mask.

Residents could be seen moving around wearing some of the masks.

A tailor from Senondo Suburb, Mrs Nomagugu Moyo said she was using some left over fabrics to produce these masks. She said she had fabrics of different colours and designs and clients were buying them depending on their taste.

“I’m a tailor and since the start of the lockdown I had to close my shop. I haven’t been getting any business until now when I started to produce face masks. I make these face masks using pieces of fabric that were left over when I was designing outfits and clothes. Face masks use up little fabric which makes producing them cost effective.

“I sell my face masks for R20 or US$1. I have been producing these face masks for a week now and I have managed to sell 40. I was approached by a local company that placed an order for face masks while the others were bought by residents. I hope to get more customers as time goes on so that I can make more money,” she said.

Mrs Moyo said she was selling the masks in foreign currency to protect her business against high inflation which is weakening the value of the local currency. She said she realised a business opportunity as she saw that not everyone would afford to buy disposable masks which must be replaced everyday.

Another local tailor, Ms Nqobile Dube said she had resorted to producing face masks in order to raise some money during this difficult time when their shops were closed. She said she was using WhatsApp to advertise her masks and this was yielding positive results. Ms Dube said customers were responding and placing orders and after she was done they visit her home to collect.

She said she relied on her work as a tailor to earn a living and with the prevailing lockdown it was difficult for her to fend for her children as she is a single mother.

“Since the start of the lockdown I managed to complete the outstanding orders that I had but after that I was hardly getting customers. I then saw a business opportunity in making face masks. In the beginning people were not that keen on buying them but since the Government announced it’s mandatory for everyone to wear a mask more people are placing their orders.

“Since I can’t operate from my shop making it difficult to get clients I have been using WhatsApp as a platform to advertise my products. It’s also difficult to move from house to house selling these face masks because of the rule of social distancing. If we could operate from our shops we could get more clients as we would have exposure,” she said.

Ms Dube said the town had a number of tailors and most of them were now producing face masks which was making the scramble for clients high. She said some people were preferring to cover their mouths with scarves instead of investing in a face mask.

A resident from the town, Mr Obert Nleya said the initiative of producing reusable masks was good as it would bring relief to residents. He said disposable masks were very expensive and hard to come by. He said the reusable masks were affordable since they could be used repeatedly.

Mr Nleya said while Government has made it mandatory for people to wear masks they also had to be readily available.

In an interview Ministry of Industry and Commerce Matabeleland South provincial deputy director, Mr Richmond Ncube said while some tailors were producing re-usable masks from their homes distributing them will be a challenge as their shops were closed. He said once the lockdown regulations were further eased there was need for production of masks to be coordinated through the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development.

“In Matabeleland South Province there is a challenge when it comes to production of face masks as we don’t have companies that produce them. It comes as a relief that Solusi University is working on producing masks targeted for the province. It becomes difficult for people to access masks if they are not being produced and sold locally.

“I’m told that some tailors are making these masks from their homes but still they don’t have a place to sell them from as their shops are closed. They also can’t move around selling them,” he said.

Mr Ncube said it was crucial for people to have access to masks. He said the masks which were coming were channelled through the Ministry of Health and Child Care or the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works, making it difficult for residents to access them as they were in limited supply.

Zimbabwe Medical Association (ZIMA) secretary- general Dr Sacrifice Chirisa recently called for the correct use of masks and said people must not reuse disposal masks, while reusable masks must be washed and ironed before use. He said washing and ironing were necessary as it was a double sterilisation method meant to remove all bacteria and viruses when the mask has been exposed to the virus, from the one wearing it or from aerosols in the air from another person.

Government directed people to wear masks when getting out of their homes as part of a raft of measures meant to ensure the country conforms to Covid-19 lockdown level two guidelines announced by President Mnangagwa on Friday last week. People who do not abide by this rule will face arrest.

President Mnangagwa extended the national lockdown by 14 more days with effect from Monday but downgraded it to Level Two, which entails among other guidelines that all people must wear face masks of any type, even home-made cloth ones, in all public spaces and when they are outside their homes. Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Mr Nick Mangwana said wearing face masks was now a law after a Statutory Instrument was gazetted. — @DubeMatutu