COVID-19: S Africa announces relief package to fight hunger; boost economy during lockdown

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced a Rand 500 billion (USD 26 billion) economic and social relief package to counter the devastating effects on the country's economy due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ramaphosa was addressing the nation in a live TV broadcast on Tuesday evening but there was no indication of whether the lockdown, now in its 26th day after the initial 21 days were extended by a fortnight, would be extended further.

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of infections and deaths due to COVID-19 across the country in the last few days.

There was much anticipation that there would be an announcement around easing some elements of the lockdown, especially since there have been widespread calls for lifting the prohibition on sale of hot prepared foods by restaurants and supermarkets as well as the sale and transport of liquor.

 

Ramaphosa said he would make another announcement on Thursday evening on measures to boost the country's economy.

"We will follow a phased approach. As we do so, we remain firm in our resolve to contain the virus. We will need to act with flexibility in the weeks and months ahead," he said.

"We will follow a risk adjusted approach to the return of economic activity, balancing the need to limit the spread of the virus and the need to get people back to work, he added.

For now, a special six-month increase in social grants, especially for children, the aged and those with disabilities, would assist in alleviating the hunger being experienced across the country. Unemployed persons will also receive a special grant for six months.

Ramaphosa said these funds would come from a reprioritisation of Rand 130 billion in the current government budgets; local sources; and international contributors.

He said talks had already been begun with the International Monetary Fund and the New Development Bank, started just two years ago by the partners in the Brics bloc Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Rand 20 billion is to be made available to municipal authorities for emergency water supply, public transport and sanitation, and also to provide food and shelter for the homeless, he said.

We will and we must do whatever it takes to recover from this humanitarian crisis, Ramaphosa said.

Our country and the world we live in will never be the same again. We are resolved not merely to return our economy to where it was before the virus, but to forge a new economy in a new world environment, said the President as he lauded South Africans for their resilience in supporting the lockdown to avoid tens of thousands of deaths that might otherwise have resulted through the rapid spread of the disease.