LESOTHO is already starting to feel the economic impact of the riots and looting in South Africa.
\nThe riots that started last weekend, following former President Jacob Zuma\u2019s jailing, triggered massive violence that has left property worth billions destroyed.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of businesses were looted and burnt in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces. Lesotho gets most of its products from those provinces and it hasn\u2019t taken long for the country to feel the impact.
\nSome garages were already running out of petrol and diesel at the time of going to print last night.<\/p>\n
Judas Judas from Puma Energy Filling Auto Pride Maseru said they are already running out of diesel.
\nHe said they were only left with a small amount of petrol which could only last for a few days.
\n\u201cWe placed an order to Puma, but due to the riots in South Africa, they did not promise anything anytime soon,\u201d Judas said.
\nJudas said they would shut down if they don\u2019t get deliveries in the next two days.<\/p>\n
The looming fuel shortage has triggered panic-buying.
\n\u201cPeople are not only filling their cars, but they are also filling their tins,\u201d said a petrol attendant at Lesotho Nissan Garage.
\n\u201cWe are going to run out of fuel in a few days if not tomorrow,\u201d she said.
\nLebona Lephema, the Managing Director of Executive Transport, a fuel haulage company, said the strike has hit his business hard.
\nHe confirmed that the Engen Garage\u2019s capacity has been stretched but the company is working hard to open new supply stations outside Gauteng and Durban.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur trucks have been kept safe in Durban since the N3 (highway) has been closed because of the riots,\u201d Lephema said.
\n\u201cThe trucks bringing fuel will come when the situation has been resolved,\u201d he said.
\nLephema said they are working very hard to supply the Engen stations in the country with the quantity they require so that there cannot be any shortage of fuel.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not going to be easy but we are already working on them.\u201d
\nLephema said when the situation goes back to normal it is also going to be hard to catch up since fuel capacity would have gone down in their tanks.
\nHe said there is going to be much congestion since even in Gauteng the fuel stations are already running out of fuel.
\nChief Executive Officer of Private Sector Foundation of Lesotho (PSFL), Thabo Qhesi, said they hope and believe this strike issue will be resolved very soon.<\/p>\n
He said there are already some initiatives taken by the business associations in South Africa, where they asked for government intervention.
\nThe riots have affected small businesses as well.
\nTeboho Lekhotla, the Managing Director of KOA Fleet Services, said they had now stopped operations.
\nThis means even the businesses they are supplying the materials and stock are suffering too.<\/p>\n
Lekhotla explained their business delivers goods and materials to businesses and individuals from South Africa to Lesotho.
\nLekhotla said on Monday they were supposed to have gone to South Africa but they could not go.
\n\u201cWe got the message from one of our colleagues in South Africa that a strike was looming,\u201d he said, adding that it is even worse for Basotho\u2019s cars to move in such provinces.<\/p>\n
He said this strike has led to the closing of shops where they stock for their clients.
\nHe said that since they stock in the Johannesburg CBD not in the malls, the shops were not vandalised.
\nHe said they normally do more than two trips in a week.
\n\u201cThere are regular clients who order business materials from South Africa every week,\u201d Lekhotla said.<\/p>\n
He said they have about eight steady clients that buy stock every week that are already affected.
\nHe mentioned people who manufacture freezer jackets who work on orders.
\nLekhotla also mentioned restaurants that have weekly orders.
\n\u201cThis might lead to a total shutdown of many businesses in Lesotho,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
T\u0161episo Mpobole who is dealing with the importation of clothes and eggs for incubation said they are already feeling the pinch.
\nMpobole said they normally go to South Africa every week to buy stock in Johannesburg and eggs in Durban which are the worst affected provinces.
\nShe said they failed to go this week because there is no movement in South Africa and the shops they buy clothes from were burnt down.
\nMpobole said even when the riots are over, they will struggle to find new suppliers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is going to affect the prices since we are going to buy from new shops,\u201d she said, adding that even the demand which is already high is going to push the prices higher.
\nBusiness associations in South Africa have warned of looming food shortages and increases in prices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LESOTHO is already starting to feel the economic impact of the riots and looting in South Africa. The riots that started last weekend, following former President Jacob Zuma\u2019s jailing, triggered massive violence that has left property worth billions destroyed. Hundreds of businesses were looted and burnt in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces. Lesotho gets most of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":1899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,8,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","category-policy"],"yoast_head":"\n