An Investigation of Factors that Saw Surviving SMMEs in UMhlathuze Municipality Through the Covid-19 Crisis

The goal of this research was to investigate the factors that helped SMMEs in uMhlathuze Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, survive the COVID-19 crisis. Given the severity of COVID-19 and its impact on SMMEs, this research was prompted by the need to obtain information that can mitigate SMME failure in the face of disasters like COVID-19. Embracing a qualitative research design, the research used semi-structured interviews to extract data from twelve purposefully sampled SMME owners and managers. The Thematic Analysis technique and Atlas.ti software (version 23.2.3.27778) were used to analyse collected data. Research findings revealed that four factors led to the survival of SMMEs during the COVID-19 crisis. These were the good state in which the SMMEs were in before the pandemic; the measures SMMEs embraced to fend off the pandemic challenges; assistance from the government and the private sector; and opportunities and chance factors. Based on the research findings, the study recommends that the government should equip SMMEs with crisis management skills to place them in a better position to survive catastrophic situations. Furthermore, SMMEs should strive to have some savings that they can fall back on in times of need.