South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday said the recovery of the country’s economy from the COVID-19 pandemic is going to be difficult and would take a lot of time, reported The Eyewitness News.
The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected the livelihoods of many South Africans with millions of them losing their jobs. The government had introduced the special COVID-19 social grant and the UIF’s COVID-19 Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme only known as Covid-TERS to cushion the people from the devastating impact of the pandemic.
In his weekly newsletter, President Ramaphosa said that people should understand that the government’s relief measures would not be sustainable on an indefinite basis. Last week, he announced that the special COVID-19 R350 grant would be extended for another three months.
He said that the relief measures had helped many households cope over the last year since the outbreak was first detected in South Africa.
But the South African president said that the government would have to make tough decisions on public spending this year and companies would need to be innovative to bring their own sustainability and profitability in order to bring the country’s economy back to track.
He said that the government’s focus would now be on creating an enabling environment for businesses to recover, and for economic growth that spurs job creation and attracts investment.
“The recovery will be difficult and will take time, not least because we are still in the midst of the pandemic. As these relief measures are now, we will not be able to sustain them indefinitely,” Mr. Ramaphosa said. “We need to make sure that these relief measures provide a firm foundation for a broader recovery without driving the country deeper into debt. Unless we can bring our national debt down to sustainable levels no meaningful economic recovery will be possible.”
He insisted people buy local products, support local businesses and industries, and procure from local suppliers.
