The disruption of businesses by the COVID-19 pandemic might have long passed, but some businesses have not yet fully recovered financially, especially in the informal sector.
In this insert, NBC News brings you some of the untold stories of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Every businessperson has an untold story of how their businesses were not spared by COVID-19.
Some had to suspend operations; however, there are those that never recovered to date and closed shop for good.

The founder of Nalimanguluke Leather Work, Dominius Klephas, narrated how he started his business 20 years ago after realising his previous work was not sustaining his family. 

The business was going well until COVID-19 arrived with restrictions characterised by social distancing and lockdowns, which largely affected non-essential business operations.

After the lockdown, Nalimanguluke Leather Work has never been the same again.

Today his workshop has a pile-up of uncollected shoes that came in for repairs; even those who ordered new tailor-made ones never returned, resulting in significant losses.

"All these businesses were closed. That time you couldn't come to the workshop because all the businesses closed because of COVID-19. Sometimes you sneak in at the workplace because of your usual customers who rely on the business. They tell you to go in first so I can get you at the workshop to finish with the products; I ended up bringing over a mattress to sleep here to finish fixing the customers' shoes and also protect my products from being stolen. We continued operating."

Klephas says, to some extent, his business has recovered, although he had to let go of some employees during and after the pandemic.
Today, Nalimanguluke Leather Work only has one employee.

He wants to stop counting losses and take his business to its former glory days.
Covid-19 left lessons to be learnt, particularly on how to manage future disasters.