Government will only be guided by scientific evidence before reopening economy: Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa is on Thursday expected to announce how the government plans to reopen the economy. He says the government will only be guided by scientific evidence before reopening the country for economic activity.

The number of coronavirus infections in South Africa has risen to over 3 600 with 65 deaths and over 126 000 tests conducted countrywide.

President Ramaphosa says, ”We will follow a risk-adjusted approach to the return of economic activity balancing the continued need to limit the spread of the Coronavirus with the need to get people back to work. As I have said previously if we end the lockdown too soon or too abruptly we risk a massive and uncontrollable resurgence of the disease. We will therefore follow a phased approach guided by the best available scientific evidence to gradually lift restrictions on economic activity.”

On Tuesday, Ramaphosa warned that if government ends the lockdown soon, this could well undermine all the efforts put in place to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since the nationwide lockdown began last month, economic activity in the country has come to halt, forcing some employers to let off their employees. And so far over 43 000 domestic workers have lost jobs, in just less than a month.

But on Thursday evening, President Ramaphosa will unveil government’s gradual plan to ease the lockdown and allow some sectors of the economy to return to business.

Political analyst, Professor Somododa Fikeni identifies a few sectors that could be allowed to operate. ”Critical sectors such as agriculture and related sectors, mining, transport industry and the schools in a staggered fashion are likely to be the candidates for an early opening. The petrochemical industries and those in the supply of healthcare, those are the ones we can expect to immediately open.”

Despite commending government for the stimulus package and President Ramaphosa for providing leadership in the most critical time, Prof Fikeni has warned against the culture of looting by some unscrupulous officials.

”What is the greatest threat to this would be the state capacity to implement because the implementation record has not been that good as well as rampant corruption. Therefore government would have to take some steps to ensure that there are special purpose vehicles to deal with these two challenges,” Fikeni explains.

And while the country has recorded the highest number of infections on the continent, with fears that this could increase, while testing is being rolled out countrywide, President Ramaphosa is optimistic that all this will pass and South Africa will return to normalcy.

”Even as we find ourselves at a moment of great peril, we look ahead to a better future. We shall recover, we shall overcome, we shall prosper. May God bless South Africa and protect her people.”

In the video below, President Ramaphosa talks about measures to deal with the effects of COVID-19 on the economy: 

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Measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 have seen companies and individuals unable to work and earn an income.

Dr. Tshepiso Matentjie discusses the effects of lockdown on people’s finances. 

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Economy recovery  

Business Unity South Africa’s Sipho Pityana says ideas on how to reopen the economy have been shared with government.

“We’ve shared with government detailed analysis of what’s happening in the various sectors and what the impact would be of an extended lockdown in the various sectors. That should give a clear indication of, where possible, lifting of lockdown in various sectors.”

South Africa has been under national lockdown which is expected to end on 30 April.

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The Black Business Council’s Sandile Zungu says small businesses have a big role to play in the recovery of the economy.

“Our economy recovery hinges on the success of the SMME sector. Employment creation on a sustainable basis equally hinges on a successful SMME sector. And therefore, allocation of additional resources, whether its R5 billion or whether it’s a large portion of the R236 billion … it’s a massive step in the right direction and we are very encouraged about that.”

The President says the economic recovery strategy will prioritise measures to stimulate demand and supply. He adds that this would be done through a substantial infrastructure build programme and the speedy implementation of economic reforms.

-Additional reporting by Glorious Sefako-Musi