In an interview last week with the Eye Witness News stable, which includes Radio 702, President Cyril Ramaphosa said South Africa does not have the money to provide the kind of relief packages provided for in the first wave of the Covid-19 virus in 2020, especially when the country has to now fund vaccines.
“We do not have the money, that is the simple truth,” said Ramaphosa. In his last two addresses to the nation, Ramaphosa failed to make any mention of potential relief for businesses and their employees hit by the latest regulations.
“We are constrained from a financing point of view. The relief measures we announced last year amounted to about 10% of our GDP, which is quite big for a little economy like ours … and right now we are at a stage where we have to fund the vaccines, which is going to amount to a lot of money as well. We are constrained.”
The return of a complete ban on alcohol sales threatens to wipe out many small businesses. Retailers such as Makro and Game-owner Massmart are braced for billions of rand in losses.
Business and labour are negotiating with the government to resume the wage protection scheme for workers affected by the tightening of lockdown regulations. The money for the Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (Ters) doesn’t come from government but from contributions to the Unemployment Insurance Fund from employers and employees