I am Rendani Sirwali, 46, a trader from Khubvi village, in Limpopo province in South Africa. For over a decade now, I have been running an informal market in Thohoyandou shopping complex, selling fruits, vegetables, sweets and cigarettes.
I am married with two children, aged fourteen and twenty. The eldest is in his final year at the University of Venda. Running an informal market has been my only source of income for over twenty years, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced us into a countrywide lockdown, I have not been able to work or make any money.
Though I support the precautionary measures put in place by our government to help combat the spread of COVID-19, my family is suffering both financially and psychologically. We are even struggling to afford decent food.
