As joblessness and hunger stalk growing numbers of South Africans, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni is under pressure to find more money to make up for the billions lost to the fiscus through the Covid-19 lockdown, with experts anticipating tax hikes for some, or a higher fuel levy.
Mboweni will present his emergency Covid-19 budget at 3pm today.
Business Insider reported that the new budget ‘will have to reflect billions in lost tax revenue due to the lockdown, and around R370 billion – which was not budgeted for in February – that government is pumping into the economy during the Covid-19 pandemic’.
It noted that Mboweni has warned that South Africa is heading for a full-blown sovereign debt crisis, and may become unable to repay its creditors. The country’s debt burden could reach 100% of GDP by 2024.
It cited speculation among experts that Mboweni could adjust income tax tables to make wealthier South Africans pay more, while granting relief to lower-income earners, or that, instead, he might hike the fuel levy.
Earlier yesterday, CapeTalk interviewed Lorenzo Davids. CEO of the charity, Community Chest Western Cape, who described how – after having mistakenly given out his cellphone number in a recent on-air interview about food relief – he had received more than 1 000 ‘desperate messages’ within half an hour.
He said mounting hunger across the country was affecting all communities.
The radio station’s website listed extracts from Davids’ Facebook recent posts. One read: ‘A mother from Garries called to say seven people in a home are starving. They have not had food for three days.’ Another read: ‘A farmer from the North West called me. He cried on the phone. He said he and his wife are both diabetics. The farm is dead. Their workers have had no food. He said with tears about his wife: “I fear she is going to die. She’s only eating one small meal a day. Please help us.”’
In another post, he said: ‘A young man texted me to say the family next door to him are all sick with Covid-19 – the entire family. They need food urgently.’
Concern is mounting about infections in schools.
News24 reported that the National Association of School Governing Bodies was calling for the immediate closure of schools in the Eastern Cape after 204 people, mainly pupils, tested positive at an Eastern Cape boarding school.
The report said that since the reopening of schools on 8 June, 196 Eastern Cape schools had had to be closed. Of those, 132 remained shut this week, while 40 re-opened after decontamination. The report said the situation at 24 schools was not explained by the provincial government.
South Africa yesterday registered the highest number of Covid-19 deaths – 111 – in a 24-hour cycle since the pandemic hit the country. This brings the toll to 2 102. The highest number of deaths were in the Western Cape (78) and the Eastern Cape (28).
Positive cases rose by 4 518 to 106 108.
In other virus-related news
- AFP reported that the virus has claimed at least 472 173 people since the outbreak emerged in China last December. At least 9 116 250 cases have been registered in 196 countries and territories. Of these, at least 4 437 300 are considered recovered. The United States is the worst-hit country with 120 402 deaths from 2 312 302 cases. After the US, the hardest-hit countries are Brazil with 51 271 deaths from 1 106 470 cases, United Kingdom with 42 647 deaths from 305 289 cases, Italy with 34 657 deaths from 238 720 cases, and France with 29 663 deaths from 197 251 cases;
- The BBC reported that confidence in the Swedish authorities’ ability to manage the coronavirus pandemic had fallen, a poll published on Tuesday showed, as the death toll soared amid a highly-publicised light approach. The report noted that, unlike most European nations, Sweden never closed society down, opting instead to keep schools for under-16s open, as well as cafes, bars and restaurants and most businesses. The Public Health Agency argued that lockdowns only worked temporarily, insisting that drastic short-term measures were too ineffective to justify their impact on people. The country of 10.3 million had reported 5 122 Covid-19 deaths, far exceeding the combined total of its Nordic neighbours, which all adopted much stricter measures.