Bloomberg reports that SA’s National Command Council, the body overseeing the government’s response to the coronavirus crisis, is considering easing lockdown rules more rapidly as the economy tanks and poverty levels soar. This is according to three senior officials with knowledge of the talks.
Curbs could be relaxed in some provinces or areas with low infection rates, and retained in hotspots such as Cape Town. While one official said a decision was likely to be taken within 10 days, another said no timeline had been set for adjusting the lockdown level. While restrictions originally imposed on 27 March were eased from 1 May, many businesses remain partially or completely closed, job losses are mounting and the SA Reserve Bank has warned that the economy could shrink 6.1% this year. The current restrictions are unworkable for many firms, according to Busi Mavuso of Business Leadership SA, who indicated as follows: “Some companies simply can’t open with 50% of their staff – there are complex production lines that either all operate or none at all. Others can’t function because they might be deemed able to open, but key suppliers are not, so they cannot access inputs to restart production.”
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Paul Vecchiatto and Loni Prinsloo at Moneyweb
- Read too, ‘End Lockdown SA’ grouping urges restart of economy, on page 2 of The Star of 13 May 2020
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