For the South African economy to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, there is a pressing need for the government to implement key structural reforms. Improvements in governance to enable efficiency in the delivery of basic services, alignment of the education system to the future world of work, and a responsive justice system are among them.
. The fact that over 3.5 million people applied for the R350 special social grant in a matter of two days paints a bleak picture of the current reality.
In the past week alone, Edcon announced the retrenchment of 22,000 employees. Other companies such as the SABC, Sasol and Comair have issued retrenchment notices. The broader impact of this is dire. According to the treasury and Stats SA, the average working person supports three to five people. As a result of these job losses, more than five million lives will be negatively impacted.
Lockdown has worsened what was already a difficult situation. Before the lockdown, South Africa was already in a technical recession, which was further aggravated by the junk status downgrade we got from Moody’s. Another priority area is transportation. The recent taxi strike demonstrated that the legacy of the apartheid era is still very much with us. The spatial planning policies that placed the bulk of the labour force on the outskirts of central business districts has meant the majority of the working class is heavily dependent on public transport – buses, taxis and unreliable trains.
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