Difficulties Encountered by SMMEs in uMhlathuze Municipality Due to COVID-19 Crisis

An investigation of the difficulties that confronted SMMEs in uMhlathuze Municipality because of the COVID-19 crisis was the purpose of this research. Given the novelty and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, this research was motivated by the desire to obtain information that can be used by both the government and the SMMEs to prepare for future disasters. The research embraced a qualitative research design and a case study research approach and used semi-structured interviews to extract data from 12 purposefully sampled SMMEs. The thematic analysis technique and Atlas.ti software version 23.2.3.27778 were used to analyse the collected data. Research findings revealed that a loss of customers and income; disruption of business operations; health-related challenges; difficulties in accessing government aid; challenges in fulfilling financial obligations; business activities not compatible with power saving; government corruption and incompetency; increases in operating costs; losses due to stock which decayed; and supply chain disruptions were the challenges that confronted SMMEs during COVID-19. Basing on these findings, the researchers recommend that the government should equip SMMEs with disaster management skills to enable these entities to better circumvent future challenges. Additionally, in these volatile times, SMMEs should strive to set some savings aside to fall back on in times of need.