City Press reports that although the parties represented at the National Economic, Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) have endorsed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s approach that lar
ge parts of SA would move to level 3 of the Covid-19 coronavirus lockdown at the end of the month, organised labour says the move to level 3 must not just be done in the interests of business.
The district-based lockdown approach would see districts being differentiated by the average number of active cases per week. Cosatu’s Bheki Ntshalintshali, who serves as organised labour’s overall convener at Nedlac, warned as follows about the move to level 3: “We cannot compromise life for the sake of just making money. We raised our concerns that, while we all agree on the reopening of the economy, it must be with caution. The evidence that we have so far is negative.” He pointed out that the transport system could be a “weak link” when it came to the safety of workers, something business owners and managers were not taking into account. He went on to explain: “If you are opening up the economy, taxis will not be able to meet the needs of commuters and we know that Metrorail can be overcrowded, so we said that, when government does that, they must consider the risk and then they must not compromise the lives of people.” Nedlac business convener Kaizer Moyane said that business was ready for level 3 and had asked government to draw up regulations that ensured all stakeholders were protected. “The lockdown is damaging to the economy, so we are happy that there is a sense for government to progress swiftly through the lockdown levels and reopen the economy,” Moyane stated.
- Read the full original of the detailed report in the above regard by Queenin Masaubi, Poloko Tau and Des Erasmus at City Press
- Read too, Nedlac could deliver level 3 lockdown before end of May, says Cyril Ramaphosa, at BusinessLive
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page