My heart goes out to small businesses in South Africa. Horribly let down by our government time after time, we are now in a position where restaurants are facing another existential crisis. It's not just restaurants either - spare a thought for the likes of gyms, personal trainers, winemakers and car guards at malls.

On the other side of the coin, almost every family in this country has mourned the loss of a loved one over the past 15 months. There are no winners in this situation sadly.

However, there are things we can do to try and help.

Corporates have strong balance sheets and have been paying off debt, preparing for a rainy day. Nedbank confirmed this in recent results. Unfortunately, independent businesses haven't had that luxury.

In case you feel like it's all a dream and that everything is ok out there, I want to remind you that Curro lost around 5% of its students at the start of the year due to non-payment of fees. Curro isn't exactly Bishops or St John's in terms of fees, yet 1 in 20 families couldn't afford to keep up.

These are our taxpayers. This is the middle-class that faces an enormous effective tax rate, paying the government for services and then using private hospitals and schools on top of that. Without these people, there is no money to pay social grants to the vast number of unemployed people in South Africa.

I am a parent. I can only imagine how dire the finances must get before you downgrade your child's education. The situation has been desperate at times and is heading back there quickly.

If you have the means to do so, drive to your local restaurant and order a take-away. Help keep the kitchens open, so they can pay their staff and maybe even their waiters too.

Book a training session online with a personal trainer. If you do go to the mall for your shopping, give the security guard a bit extra if you can.

I want to see how far we can take this as a community, so I am encouraging you to use the hashtag #TakeoutTuesday and share a picture of the menu of whichever restaurant you want to support. It could be a tiny independent burger joint near you or the pizza place you love. It doesn't matter. Just do what you can and use social media to inspire others to do the same.

I strongly believe that the South African spirit is one of the strongest in the world. We will need every ounce of it this winter. Together.

With that out the way, the content you can look forward to from me this morning includes Glencore's willingness to keep investing in coal, Cashbuild's earnings recovery, Nasdaq-listed Etsy's acquisition trail and Invicta's resumption of its dividend.

There's also an ESG-focused opinion piece from Selabe Kute which is well worth a read.

If you missed it yesterday, the latest episode of the Magic Markets podcast looks at the more technical elements of the yield curve and how it affects the value of your share portfolio. If you've always grappled with this topic and you want to understand more, make sure you listen to the show.

Good luck for this fine Tuesday and don't forget to share your chosen restaurant menu on the socials!

The Finance Ghost