Burnt to the ground, back in business

When looters destroyed Elaine Muthusamy’s factory in Durban during the July 2021 unrest, they took R3,5 million worth of stock and equipment. What they could not take was the decision she made in the days that followed. She was not going to close.

Muthusamy had started SA Metering Solutions in Durban in 2019 with a vision, a strong will and backing of the Small Enterprise Development and Finance Agency, better known as Sedfa, which helped her secure her first stock and begin supplying commercial water meters across KwaZulu-Natal. The business had been growing steadily. Then the unrest hit. 

“My company was burnt to the ground, but I did not see myself as a failure. I have overcome illness before, so I know what strength looks like,” Muthusamy said.

Shortly after the looting, she entered a radio competition and won R20 000. It was a small amount against the scale of what she had lost, but it mattered. “Being chosen was the light at the end of the tunnel. That R20 000 gave me hope.”

Her bookkeeper encouraged her to document the full two-year journey of her business and submit it to Sedfa under the unrest-relief support programme. 

Sedfa approved R1,2 million in blended finance, made up of an R800 000 loan and a R400 000 grant. Because her suppliers were based in China, Sedfa also paid international freight directly. 

Her customers waited. Many chose to hold their orders for months rather than go to competitors. When she reopened, she came back to a market that had kept a place for her. SA Metering Solutions now employs nine people, many from rural communities with limited opportunities. Muthusamy trains them from scratch. “I take people with no skills and give them a chance to believe in themselves,” she concluded. 

For more information about Sedfa, visit www.sedfa.org.za 

SA Metering Solutions can be reached at www.sametering.co.za