Pressure mounted on the government yesterday over its lockdown regulations, with criticism of ‘draconian’ elements, court challenges on race-based measures and the about-turn on selling cigarettes, and criticism of backtracking on relief measures.
Positive cases in South Africa rose by 297 to 5 647. There were no new reported deaths, which stand at 103.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) said the government appeared merely to have extended the national lockdown under the guise of easing the restrictions, saying there was no difference between level 4 and level 5 regulations, and that some decisions were ‘draconian’.
‘Ultimately, there is not enough to distinguish lockdown Level 4 from Level 5. This will be disastrous for millions of lives and livelihoods,’ warned interim leader John Steenhuisen.
The party also instructed its lawyers to prepare a legal challenge to race-based disbursement of business support.
Another legal challenge by Solidarity and its civil rights associate, AfriForum, opposing the application of broad-based black economic empowerment codes to determine who is eligible for the R200m in emergency funding earmarked for tourism companies, failed in the North Gauteng High Court. Solidarity said it would now approach the Constitutional Court.
Other organisations were planning a legal challenge to the about-turn on cigarette sales. The reinstatement of the ban was slammed by Tax Justice South Africa, an organisation focused on exposing illicit trade and corruption involving state funds.
Founder Yusuf Abramjee said: ‘This is life-endangering economic sabotage that hands trade to the organised syndicates who flourished under SA’s decade of ruinous leadership. Those crooks and gangsters who thought their free run was over when President Cyril Ramaphosa announced lifting of the ban last week are still very much in business. They will be partying tonight.’
The government is also under pressure from civil society over relief measures.
GroundUp reported that 12 civil society organisations involved with children, education and social justice had made joint submissions to the government on last week’s announcement of increases to all welfare grants. They pointed out that, while the grant increases were celebrated by many who believed the relief would assist with improving the lives of the most vulnerable, the government had since backtracked, and revealed that the R500 increase in the child support grant would be a payment to the caregiver, and not per child.
This meant a single parent with three children would get the same amount as a single parent with one child.
These various pressures came on top of global ratings agency S&P’s lowering South Africa’s long term foreign and local currency debt ratings further into non-investment grade to ‘BB-’ and ‘BB’ respectively.
S&P said the downgrade was a result of coronavirus-related pressures that would have significant adverse implications for South Africa’s already deficient growth and fiscal outcomes.
S&P said it could consider another downgrade if the rule of law, property rights, or enforcement of contracts were to weaken significantly, undermining the investment and economic outlook.
It said it could raise the ratings if the government’s reform efforts were to credibly arrest the rise in the government debt-to-GDP ratio, and show a substantial improvement in job creation and productivity gains, leading to higher real per capita GDP growth.
In other virus-related news
- Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga announced that Grade 7 and 12 pupils would return to school on 1 June, but only if this was approved by the command council and if all health measures were in place. She said that while great strides had been made in reaching pupils through radio and TV channels, not all pupils had been reached and it was ‘not perfect’;
- The Department of Higher Education and Training has decided not to resume campus-based activity under the level 4 lockdown;
- Associated Media Publishing, the publisher of Cosmopolitan, House & Leisure, Good Housekeeping and Women on Wheels, announced it would be closing its doors today because of the ‘devastating’ impact of Covid-19, which had resulted in the closure of printing and distribution channels. Said CEO Julia Raphaely: ‘We never thought this day would come, but we are left with no choice.’ The group was launched by her mother, magazine publishing doyenne Jane Raphaely, in 1982;
- The Financial Times reported that the eurozone’s economy shrank by the fastest rate on record in the first quarter of 2020 as measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic froze business and household activity, according to figures published on Thursday. The gross domestic product of the eurozone fell by 3.8 per cent in the first quarter compared with the previous quarter, preliminary estimates from Eurostat found. This is the largest drop since the series began in 1995, and larger than seen in the worst of the financial crisis; and
- Dr Anthony Fauci, the United States infectious disease chief and a member of the White House taskforce, said he was ‘cautiously optimistic’ as the nation began reopening, but urged local leaders to follow administration guidelines for a phased approach. States should only begin reopening if they saw a decline in new coronavirus cases over two weeks, he said.