My friend Sakhile Tracy Ndlovu opened a coffee shop in Sandton just three weeks ago. I have a vivid memory of that day. She was extremely excited – posting about it on social media every hour.

Like many, she was hopeful that the government would intensify its vaccine rollout plan. And so, she made big decisions, placing her savings and investments into this quaint coffee shop that she believed would do well in what government calls the “post-Covid economy”...