How world sees SA: Many entrepreneurs now destitute, desperate under Covid-19

South Africa earned a reputation as a deteriorating country quagmired in corruption and inefficiency in the nine lost years under former president Jacob Zuma. For a brief time, international investors were excited that business savvy Cyril Ramaphosa had managed to outmanoeuvre the Zuma clique in the ANC to take the helm of the party. But economic growth has not taken off under Ramaphosa. He has not been helped by the unexpected shock of Covid-19 and the costly measures that have had to be taken to preserve lives. The Washington Post underscores that many people who were making a decent living and starting to flourish have been set back, further exacerbating the gap between the very rich and the very poor. – Jackie CameronBy Thulasizwe SitholeSouth Africa's economic sacrifices to save lives in one of the strictest Covid-19 national lockdowns has led to many of its once-successful entrepreneurs quickly becoming destitute and desperate. This is the message the Washington Post shares with its readers in a feature on how Africa is fighting the coronavirus. ___STEADY_PAYWALL___.The US publication's Africa correspondent shares the story of Fino Dlamini, a natural to succeed in South Africa's booming tourism industry, to illustrate the plight of many self-employed people and entrepreneurs who will struggle to bounce back quickly from containment measures that brought commercial activity to a standstill.Dlamini's bicycle tours of Soweto took visitors to historic sites, including the homes of Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and to restaurants where they could meet South Africans. The tourists and locals would quickly connect over shared interests in sports or TV shows, forming instant bonds that were "magic," she told the Washington Post."Business was good in January and February, and projections for the rest of 2020 were excellent. Then the coronavirus brought everything to an abrupt halt. Dlamini was confined to her small home under a strict lockdown, with few options for earning money," reports Andrew Meldrum.Millions of other South Africans share in the same misfortune, he notes."The country with the continent's most developed economy also has its highest number of confirmed infections — more than 22,000, representing 20% of Africa's total. And because the disease may not hit its peak for four more months, leaders expect to spend an especially long time balancing the risks to public health with the economic activity essential to the national welfare," says Meldrum."The risk of a massive increase in infections is now greater than ever," South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is quoted as saying as he announced a further loosening of the lockdown starting June 1 to allow some 8 million more people to return to work.While South Africa has not seen the explosion of virus infections that emerged in Europe, cases "have now started to rise sharply," Ramaphosa has warned.The Washington Post highlights that health experts have suggested that a contributing factor in the lower number in cases is the country's youthful population, with just 3% of people above the age of 60. Africa's small elderly population may help explain why the disease is spreading relatively slowly across the continent, it points out"South Africa is still in the early stages of the pandemic, leading health experts to predict the peak could come as late as August or September. A surge of cases in Cape Town suggests that city might reach its maximum near the end of June. The forecasts portend a lengthy wait to resume normal activity."Other African countries appear to be on a similar trajectory. Forty-three of the continent's 54 nations have imposed containment measures, including lockdowns, bans on public gatherings, school closures and curfews," says the WP.Social tensions are rising amid the financial concerns, according to Dlamini, who closed her tourism business."People are destitute and feeling desperate," Dlamini told the WP. "It's heartbreaking and scary. I tell friends that we must get through this hard time, that a vaccine will be found and we can get back to business. … But right now, it's hard."With 25 bicycles, a vehicle and a trailer sitting idle, Dlamini decided to move into something entirely new. She is now selling meat products from her car to Soweto residents, says the WP. "Ribs, pork trotters, beef bones — these are all popular," she said. "People are calling me for repeat orders, so business is looking good," she tells Meldrum..Although five weeks into the lockdown South Africa began a gradual easing on May 1, allowing selected mines, factories and businesses to reopen with up to 30% of employees, the economy, already in recession, keeps plummeting."The unemployment rate was at a staggering 29% even before the virus hit, and the jobless rate could rise to 50%, according to the Chamber of Commerce. Lines of hungry South Africans stretch for miles at sites where the government or charities distribute food," says the WP.The economic downturn is expected to shrink Africa's economies by more than 5%, according to the NKC African Economics research firm. Most punishing are the effects on the millions of Africans who rely upon daily trading to earn money to eat."Amid the medical challenges, the imploding economy puts pressure on Ramaphosa to reopen more of the country. Other African economies face the same problem as they endure two simultaneous blows: the virus outbreak and a slump in demand for key exports to Europe and Asia," comments the WP.With the majority of Africans eking out their living on a day-to-day basis, any restrictive measures are quickly felt and "risk civil disobedience if protracted," Benedict Craven, the Economist Intelligence Unit's country risk manager for Africa, is reported as saying.In the effort to balance health and economic needs, "there is no way of successfully attending to the one issue without disregarding the other," Pieter du Preez, senior economist at NKC African Economics, tells the WP. He warns of an "economic quagmire," including increased unemployment, widespread hunger and a humanitarian crisis.Dlamini, the tour operator now selling meat, tells the WP she is inspired by Ramaphosa's approach, which includes government deliveries of water to areas that did not have it and discussions about the possible installation of toilets in schools that offered only pit latrines."We are showing that we can doing something here in South Africa, that we can build a more equal society," Dlamini adds. "We must work for that!"

How world sees SA: Many entrepreneurs now destitute, desperate under Covid-19

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