---

It is difficult to face 68 employees, look at them in the eye, and tell them you don’t have jobs anymore. - Cuban Pietermaritzburg managing director, Themba Ndhlovu.

---

Sizwe sama Yende

---

At the end of this month, Cubana Pietermaritzburg, which was a thriving business with a R24 million annual turnover, will shut its doors and leave its 68 employees stranded.

The KwaZulu-Natal café does not have any internal or economic climate problems that are forcing it to shut down such as loss of profit and effects of loadshedding. In fact, it has been successful it survived the economically-challenging Covid-19 period.

Cubana Pietermaritzburg caved in when it found itself having to compete with provincial Department of Public Works for the space it is currently renting. The department presented a better offer to the landlord of Invesco Centre who has chosen to give a lease to the government.

Invesco Centre is now going to house offices of the KZN premier, Nomusa Dube-Ncube.

Cubana Pietermaritzburg managing director, Themba Ndhlovu, said that he had tried to get alternative accommodation to relocate the café but he was turned down by landlords who did not “like this kind of business.”

This means his workers are really facing an uncertain future.

Ndhlovu has been operating the business for 11 years during which he did not imagine that he would be forced to shut down.

“This situation is telling me that black businesses are on their own. Cubana Pietermaritzburg has been an investment for years and for it to go like this, is a very painful experience,” he said.

Ndhlovu said that he had other businesses, and would personally not have much of a problem making a living, but his main concern was the workers.

“It is difficult to face 68 employees, look at them in the eye, and tell them you don’t have jobs anymore.”

Cubana Pietermaritzburg’s closure is an antithesis of Xero’s 2024 State of Small Business Report, which indicates that South African small businesses were feeling positive about the future.

The reports says that the top barriers facing small businesses this year are political and economic instability (55%), persistent loadshedding (50%), lack of government support (49%) and access to funding (26%).

“However, 87% of small businesses are optimistic about their 2024 outlook – a 6% increase from last year – and nearly three-quarters (73%) have grown over the past 12 months,” the report says.

“This optimism amongst small businesses is reflected in their plans for the future, with 56% planning to invest in new technology, 55% in upskilling their current staff, and half (51%) planning to invest in their employees’ wellbeing.”

According to Stats SA’s March 24 report, 247 companies have been liquidated in South Africa in January and February this year, more than at the same time last year.

In 2023, 243 companies were liquidated.

Stats SA released the country’s liquidation statistics on 25 March 2024, which revealed that liquidations decreased year-on-year in February.

However, the far higher number of liquidations in January meant that South Africa had seen more liquidations in the first two months of 2024 than in the same period in 2023.

In January 2024, there were 109 liquidations compared to 81 in 2023. In February 2024, there were 138 compared to 162 the previous year.

While South Africa’s recent drop in liquidations could indicate that the country’s economy is improving, some economic analysts argue that this could also mean that  businesses are merely surviving in South Africa’s stagnant economy.

A Cubana Maritzburg long-time employee, Gwen Hlatshwayo said that the establishment gave workers dignity and pride by providing stable employment. “Losing it will not only affect us but also our families who depend on us. The system has failed us, leaving us with uncertainty and fear for the future," she said.

Bafana Ndhlovu, a senior manager at Cubana, emphasised the devastating

consequences: "Cubana has been instrumental in providing for my family and allowing me to pursue academic qualifications. The thought of losing it is unbearable."