Dear Portfolio Committee on Small Business Development,

I am writing you this letter, in the hopes of some kind assistance and / or advice on the way forward. My husband and I are both born here in South Africa, and have been raised, and worked as well as studied here for all our lives - we are in our early fifties. We have never considered immigrating as our families especially our parents are still here in South Africa. My husband is an excellent business man and has his own building company for over 30 years, having provided many of his contractors with building work over the years. I myself have studied, and began my career as a private high school Accounting teacher in Benoni, dedicating most of my time to extra classes for young children from the townships. I then followed a career in Finance and worked in Corporate Finance, trained staff all over the country, did my Masters in Leadership, and my last position was as a practising accountant in Boksburg training "young accountants to be". Thus, before Covid both of us were 'self-employed". We had our quotation files with at least 60 to 80 prospects at the time of Covid, and die to obvious travel restrictions, were not allowed to see them, or carry out any building work. ( I now help him in the business) We had no choice but to follow strict Covid instructions, worst of all we were unable to give work to the contractors for at least ten months, and in the process lost our home, our cars, and all our pipeline work in the business. Our priority in Priority Building is always our workers who came first. Besides the Covid situation, BBBEE has also worked against us in so many ways, especially in trying to source work on bigger building projects for our contractors, who have their own families to take care of. One wonders how, in a country where we were born, and love dearly, such things have been allowed, despite our late Pres Mandela who advocated the Freedom Charter, and spoke on each and every individual having human rights ie. The right to not be discriminated against. In a country where over 80% of us profess to be Christian, and love our brothers and sisters, it is rather confusing for us that have decided to stay and try make a positive difference in our own small way. We managed for the last two years on loans from friends and family, even our own parents, which we feel terrible about as we should be taking care of them! Is there some way we can be compensated for these losses, even in the business itself, as I know the president did speak along these lines during the first six months of Covid? Please help thanks so much.