STAFF REPORTER The intermittent teachers’ strike has left dozens of small businesses high and dry and they are likely to wallow in abject poverty because their major source of income is students who now go to classes a week and stay at home for three weeks. This came after teachers decided they would only teach for a week in a month and embark on a strike for the remaining three weeks each month in a bid to push the government to bow to their demands. Since late last year teachers’ unions and the government have been locked in endless squabbles for weeks. Taxis which ferry students and teachers to school no longer have regular jobs while hawkers and small business operators whose clients are students are now stranded. ’Malerato Ts’epe, 57, sells fast foods such as fish, potato chips, sausages and fat cakes at Cenez High School some nine kilometres north of the capital, Maseru. Having been in the business since 1994, she also sells some small items like fruits and sweets to the students and teachers and has built a strong relationship over time with her clients. But the teachers’ strike has caused her great agony since her sole income for her family comes from selling those goodies to students and teachers. Through vending to students and teachers she says she has been able to educate her children and put food on the family table since over the years her business has been thriving. Ts’epe says she always follow students wherever they go because they are her clients. “I attend Moshoeshoe’s Day events which are usually held on March 11 every year so that I can sell my goodies to the students,” she says. Now she is struggling to survive because she only sells for a week and stays at home for three whole weeks a month. What makes her situation dire is that she employed another woman to help her with cooking errands which means the other woman is also suffering because there is no business. “That woman lives in a rented room and also has her own family commitments,” she says. Ts’epe says she used to hire taxi (4+1 special) to take her goods to her place of work every day and back during the week days, which means the 4+1 driver has also lost business. “I am the kind of woman who does not want to stay idle. I need to be busy with money- spinning projects,” she says. The tenacious Ts’epe says she has learnt to be resilient in business and also came to understand economic cycles that a business has to go through but was reluctant to disclose how much money her business generates per day saying it should remain her secret. “I can only say my business was good. It was just booming,” Ts’epe says. Ts’epe has not gone to any business training but she has been diligent through the ups and downs of her business. “Knowing your customers is very important. You should know what they want,” she says. Teachers’ grievances include salary increase, salary and career structure review, repeal of teaching service regulations and hiring of principals on permanent, pensionable contract. Before venturing into this small-scale business, Ts’epe says she had to do everything in her power to escape poverty. And from the humble beginnings, she raised small capital to start her business. She maintains that she started with little capital but sweat and passion moved her business to greater levels. “I looked at the size of the market and the barrier to entry,” she says. She says she also did competitor analysis when she ventured into the business, proving entrepreneurship has always run in her veins. Ts’epe says she gave her clients a seamless service at their convenience because she is always courageous, passionate and conscientious in her business. However, she admits that at times a business becomes frustrating but because of a loyal client base she has built, she usually forges forward. She says she nearly threw into the towel but remained resilient when the business was not going as planned. Yet she is now of the view that her family is on the brink of starvation because her business is in doldrums. “If no intervention is made in the nearest future, biting poverty will just be knocking on my doorstep,” Ts’epe says. While many women rely solely on their husbands’ salaries for survival, Ts’epe weaned off dependence on her husband. There is Cabinet subcommittee headed by the Minister of Communications, Science and Technology Chief Thesele ‘Maseribane to resolve teachers’ longstanding grievances, but there is no solution yet. This is despite the government’s call that teachers should go back to classes while negotiations are still continuing. This is the second consecutive month that teachers’ strike has been running. “We are feeling the pinch,” Ts’epe says, adding her insurance policies are likely to lapse and several other obligations will be compromised if no immediate intervention is made.