06 Apr 2020

Sentlhaga general dealer, one of the busiest shop situated at Thito ward along Maun/Ghanzi road has reduced operating hours because of low business resulting from the extreme social distancing period announced recently.

The store manager manager, Mr Tlhokomelang Makhanga revealed in an interview that since the start of the 28-day extreme social distancing period, they had been experiencing low customer volumes which forced them to reduce operating hours.

The shop, he said used to open at 8am to 9pm and now they opened from 8am until 8pm.

Mr Makhanga noted that prior to commencement of extreme social distancing, they were overwhelmed by customers who bought food items in bulk.

He appreciated that residents were allowed to buy food items during extreme social distancing but stated that they were not coming in large numbers because of lack of public transport.

He however said extreme social distancing was a relief as customers had been failing to maintain distance between themselves despite efforts by shop attendants to monitor and advice.

Meanwhile Mr Makhanga said his staff continued to adhere to prevention measures like sanitising hands after assisting a customer before assisting the next customer while on the other hand they encouraged customers to wash hands with clean water and soap before getting into the shop.

Extreme social distancing seems to have brought a sigh of relief to some supermarkets and food outlets employees as they now knock off early. Some employees revealed in a random interview that since the implementation of the extreme social distancing there was no congestion in shops as majority of people stayed home. ENDS