FF Plus recommendations for amendments to national Covid-19 lockdown regulations
15 April 2020
The national period of lockdown to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus is having a massive impact on the people of South Africa as well as the country's economic survival.
The Covid-19 infection rate must be reigned in as much as possible, while responsible and innovative ways to allow economic activities to continue must be found.
The FF Plus submitted recommendations to President Cyril Ramaphosa and the Covid-19 National Task Team with the aim of proposing urgent interventions to address the problems currently being experienced due to the incorrect application and/or interpretation of the regulations, to do away with the shortcomings in the current regulations and to make positive amendments to the regulations that will benefit both the public and the economy.
Among other things, the FF Plus's recommendations aim to address municipal authorities' incorrect interpretation of the regulations, to provide clarity to law-enforcement authorities with regard to the circumstances under which South Africans are allowed to leave their homes and which forms/permits are applicable, to add stationary to the list of essential goods, to address the serious backlog at the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), to make hardware goods available for critical maintenance work, to allow certain essential agricultural activities, like livestock auctions, to continue subject to the relevant measures, to allow neighbourhood and farm watch groups to operate as usual, to address the issue of porous country borders, to implement compulsory measures to restrict the spread of the virus at businesses that deliver and sell essential services and goods, to limit the loss of government income and to make online trade and the delivery of goods possible.
This includes allowing restaurants, for instance, to take orders and deliver meals to customers.
The FF Plus also proposes that the government must initiate an online shop to enable retailers, in the arts and crafts or the clothing sectors, to sell their products online.
It must be noted that most South Africans have become vulnerable and that those who were already vulnerable under normal circumstances have now become even more vulnerable. All South Africans are currently very vulnerable due to the pandemic and the socio-economic consequences of a possible economic collapse.
An individual who had a steady income a month ago and who was able to care for his/her family has suddenly become extremely vulnerable. An individual who could afford a mortgage and easily meet other financial obligations has suddenly gone bankrupt. This vulnerability affects all races, ages and genders alike.
The government must take the sudden vulnerability of those who were able to work, employ others and spend money – thus, contribute to economic growth and job creation – less than a month ago into account.
If not, South Africa will be no more than a welfare state after Covid-19 and its economy will have very little to no chance of recovering. Under such circumstances, those who were dependent on the new vulnerable ones will be those who suffer the most.
Issued by Pieter Groenewald, FF Plus leader, 15 April 2020
