ISSUES AT STAKE: South Africa’s Covid-19 catch-22

A global shutdown, loss of livelihoods, a crashing world economy.

These, among other things – not many of them good – are primarily what this year – the year of ‘2020 vision’, or so we thought in January – will surely be remembered for.

Looking back to March when South Africa recorded its first Covid-19 case and shortly thereafter went into hard lockdown, our government was commended for its no-nonsense approach to fighting the virus that soon became a pandemic.

We were told to stay indoors at home unless we needed to buy food or medicine.

As if we’ll ever forget.

The hard lockdown initially set to last 21 days was lengthened and has since evolved into a series of levels.

After much uncertainty and fear settling into the hearts of many, our nation eventually emerged from the initial hard lockdown period – but not unscathed.

President Cyril Ramaphosa went from hero to zero with the puff of a cigarette as he implemented – and extended – regulations which failed to make sense and seemed only to fuel the spirit of chaos in already trying times.

With entire sectors closing down – and some closed still – millions of citizens lost their jobs, their ability to feed their families, pay their bills, send their children to school, and some their will to live.

South Africa’s response to the pandemic has been hailed as exemplary by some first world countries whose governments failed to act timeously, and have the death toll to show for it.

But is our government’s response really exemplary and should we be compared to first world countries at all?

Soon after lockdown was announced in March, a R500-billion stimulus package was announced from which our nation’s unemployed – those not receiving income of any sort, whether salaries, pensions or grants – would benefit.

And so the R350 grant came into being.

While the impoverished unemployed scrambled to register for their portion, the fat cats made off with the spoils and a ‘corruption commission’ was later announced.

Corruption, however, is another topic for another day.

It has now become obvious that in an effort to save lives from the scourge of the pandemic, too many South Africans’ lives have been destroyed.

And while our nation’s lockdown and associated levels is far stricter than some first world countries, the safety net for our unemployed simply cannot cope with the volume.

What can R350 buy? For the smokers among us it is less than a black market carton of cigarettes.

It is the cost of a toasted sandwich maker from Clicks, and doesn’t even cover the cost of a week’s groceries for two people, no matter how frugal you are.

In comparison, the American unemployed have been receiving $600 a week.

Take the exchange rate into consideration and it’s the equivalent of R10 223 – every week.

Australia’s unemployed have, until now, received $800 a week (R9 734), which is set to be halved.

In a country with a 29% unemployment rate at the best of times, the South African government simply cannot put hundreds of thousands more people on the streets and offer them R350 per month when our cost of living is no lower than that of a first world country.

The global economic effects of this pandemic are devastating, but are magnified in a third world country like ours.

In a bid to prevent the virus from decimating our population, it appears hunger and violence, as people fight over the scraps, might just do it instead.

There is simply no easy way out of this catch-22 in which we find ourselves.

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