Covid-19: President Ramaphosa outlines numerous challenges faced during pandemic

President Cyril Ramaphosa engaged with members of the South African National Editors’ Forum during a virtual briefing on 9 September.

Ramaphosa said he welcomed the opportunity to engage with editors from around the country, particularly during a time of crisis. During his opening remarks, Ramaphosa said he would address the country next week on a range of issues. He said during times of economic distress, it is important to ensure that ministers in the economic cluster are more available to journalists.

Ramaphosa said he is sorry to hear of harassment of journalists and highlighted the importance of protecting the rights of all citizens and those who are working as journalists.

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Response to Covid-19

Ramaphosa said the government is intensifying its public health response in order to reduce incidents of Covid-19 across all provinces. “This includes strengthening identification and contact tracing systems, tracing and isolating contacts as quickly as possible, and we are putting in place the mechanisms to do that.”

He added they are maintaining the readiness of health facilities in case of surges, as other countries have seen surges following a decline. “We are expecting that we could have sudden surges but we are maintaining our state of readiness in a number of ways.” Ramaphosa said they are working to prevent a second surge of cases by encouraging people to maintain prevention measures such as social distancing and regular handwashing.

When concerns were raised about the reporting of Covid-19 deaths, Ramaphosa said it is a concerning issue. “Scientists and professionals have been to the Coronavirus Command Council and they have outlined precisely how this process works, particularly the reporting of deaths.”

He said in some cases, deaths are not reported as quickly as they should be. “It is concerning, but I do not believe for one moment that we have taken decisions on the wrong data. We have been well advised. We have been so well-advised that the Medical Advisory Committee that was set up by [Health] Minister [Zweli] Mkhize has 51 professionals of diverse training, experience and capability.” He said on 10 September, he will be meeting with the World Health Organisation and other heads of state.

He said that, as the head of the African Union, he will put forward the idea that a vaccine must be available to the African continent. “We cannot accept that only the big, developed economies should hog the vaccine.”

The road to economic recovery

Ramaphosa said the news of a dramatic decline in the economy was devastating. “At the beginning of Covid-19, I said that this is going to be a devastating pandemic and it is going to affect livelihoods and the economy of our country would suffer greatly. So when the news came through yesterday [8 September] about the 51 per cent downscale… it was very much in line with what we expected this pandemic would do.

“We did expect that we would have to come up with a recovery programme. We are working closely with social partners on a common agenda for economic recovery which will help to feed into government’s economic recovery strategy.”

He said that the government’s social partners have come up with a number of wonderful plans from different sides including business, unions and communities. There are a number of key areas which have been identified with the priority being implementation. Some of these key areas include infrastructure investment, a mass employment programme and economic reforms.

Ramaphosa said the Economy Recovery Plan will be finalised as soon as is possible. “Government has, to a large extent, run out of money and we are going to have to cobble money together. Fortunately, some aspects of this recovery plan will be funded through a variety of mechanisms. The private sector will play a key role, the government will play a key role.”

He said he had expected the pandemic would have dire effects on the economy, based on other countries, however, he admitted that South Africa entered the lockdown on a ‘weak wicket’. However, he said that this was an essential decision but they did understand the negative impacts it would have on the economy. “We have a wounded economy, we are in a fiscal bind… we can’t borrow much more money at the going interest rates. We needed to come up with a stimulus package.”

Ramaphosa said there has been frustration from a number of South Africans about restrictions. He said they were progressing towards easing those restrictions to returning the country to a state of normality. “We will sit back and ask ourselves whether certain measures should have been imposed and this is going to be an important conversation for us.”

He said if there is another surge, they will have more experience and will learn from these previous challenges.

Clampdown on corruption

Ramaphosa said there is an intense focus on detecting and prosecuting Covid-19 related corruption and improving transparency in procurement. “We must look out for some silver linings beneath this Covid-19 cloud. One of those would be that from now on, when it comes to procurement, we need to have transparency.”

He explained this transparency needs to enable the public to see where their taxes are being used. “The processes around corruption are being undertaken by the SIU [Special Investigating Unit] and Sars [South African Revenue Service] and all the agencies working together in what we have called the Fusion Centre in order to promote transparency and accountability.”

He said that all the details of Covid-19 related procurement have been published in public entities. He added a cabinet committee has been set up to collate all the Covid-19 procurement from all departments and entities. Ramaphosa said they are also looking at broader measures to tackle corruption in general. This includes strengthening and providing better resources to existing law enforcement agencies.

He added they are looking at establishing a permanent, multi-disciplinary entity to ensure more effective detection and prosecution of corruption. He highlighted there are currently a number of people being investigated. He said there has been considerable progress into these investigations. “They must be left to investigate independently and, if wrong has been done, they must prepare all the charges that they can and make sure the NPA [National Prosecuting Authority] takes up the matter. All the agencies must cooperate to ensure these cases are prosecutable.

“They have also discussed the issue of resources… They are understaffed and need more resources and we have committed that we will provide them with resources where they are needed so that they can speed up their work.”

Ramaphosa said he will work to strengthen their capability so that they are able to do their work without any fear, favour or prejudice. “It is important for us to build institutions and strengthen them because once they are strengthened they will do their work… They don’t need to be taught to suck eggs, they know exactly what to do.”

Ramaphosa said he knows, from listening to the news, that people are appalled that someone who has been found to have done wrong continues to earn a salary. “There is the issue of the labour laws, it’s not an issue that one does intentionally. As it stands now, in many companies and in government, when you are suspended… it is often, not always, that suspension is paid. “I know that in this case, the public is appalled… the reaction has been quite negative on that. As an employer in government, when we suspend people, and I had to suspend a director-general the other day for an alleged wrong, we suspended the person with pay because that is the rule.”

He said they may need to look at applying a different rule for politicians. “The concern that I have with this is that sometimes it goes on forever. I know people who have been on suspension for years and years and continue to be paid. Now that is, in my opinion, iniquitous [grossly unfair].” He said that he takes the view, as the World Health Organisation, that PPE corruption is murder.

Ramaphosa said in some cases, prices had been hiked by as much as 800 per cent. “I have often asked myself what gets into somebody’s head that a mask that would ordinarily cost R2 can now be sold at R90. That must tell anyone who does that that it is not only wrong but criminal.”

He said that there will be measures put in place to ensure that procurement systems will no longer allow this excessive profiteering. He said that while they may be moving at a slow pace, they are painstakingly putting things right.

“I think we have now reached a place where the change that we have all wanted to see will start unfolding. This is a slow burn but we are going to see change.” Ramaphosa said he is frustrated with the criteria and conditions being applied to the R200-billion loan scheme which has been prohibitive. “We need to assist those businesses and lower the threshold. Of course, we are not saying just give away money but there are a number of businesses that need to be looked at in a progressive way.” He said he believes it is scandalous that only R18 billion to R25 billion has been allocated more than six months later.

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Combatting violence and racism

On 7 September, Ramaphosa announced three significant bills in the hopes of combatting gender-based violence.  He said he has never been more serious about anything, than acting to address gender-based violence. He said he is committed to ensuring there are training and resources for police officers and prosecutors.

He said he wants to ensure that there is a women’s shelter in every municipality. “We need to embark conscientisation drives so that the men, both young and old in our country, become more attuned to the fact that women have equal rights, just like they do.”

Ramaphosa said racism continues to rear its head in society. “As much as we have made significant progress over the past 26 years of building a non-racial South Africa… there are a few who are seeking to take us backwards. As a country, we must take a stand against all forms of racism.

“We cannot allow the gains that have been made in this regard to be taken away from us.”

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