Desperate small businesses scramble for Rupert and Oppenheimer lifelines
Applications for the Sukuma Relief Programme have already exceeded the R1bn donation by three times, forcing the fund to temporarily shut down
07 April 2020 - 19:15
The fund created by the Rupert family to assist small and medium-size businesses in financial distress as a result of Covid-19 has been temporarily shut down as a result of a huge oversubscription from desperate SMMEs.
Applications to the fund escalated to a huge R2.8bn in the space of a couple of days, much more than the R1bn made available by the family. The thousands of applications the separate initiatives of the Rupert and Oppenheimer families have received in just a few days to assist small and medium-size businesses reveals the extent of the trauma being experienced during the lockdown...
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