SA starts getting back to work as it moves from lockdown to Covid-19 curfews, lifts tobacco ban; Land Bank rescue plans

By Jackie Cameron

In today’s news headlines:

  • With less than 90 deaths from the deadly Covid-19 virus as of the weekend, South Africa will start to lift the lockdown at the end of this week – and shift to curfews. South Africa will implement a curfew from Friday as it plans a limited return of its workforce into an economy that’s virtually ground to a halt. The curfew will start at 8pm and run until 5am, the government said in an infographic on its Twitter account Saturday. Food deliveries will be allowed to take place in non-curfew hours, reports Bloomberg. “People returning from work should then stay at home,” Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said in a briefing broadcast from the capital, Pretoria. Wearing masks outside the home will be mandatory, and the government recommends employees aged 60 or more work from home, she said.
  • The government will allow sales of winter clothing, bedding and heating as the nation enters winter. Mines are resuming operations, and automotive manufacturing can ramp up to half their full capacity, Trade and Industry Minister Ebrahim Patel said. In the loosened lockdown starting May 1, sale of tobacco products will be allowed, and exercise that isn’t undertaken in groups or in buildings such as gyms will be reintroduced, says Bloomberg. South Africa is taking a phased approach in exiting one of the strictest lockdowns globally, where the sale of alcohol, cigarettes and exercise outside of the home hasn’t been allowed.
  • The pandemic and a lockdown that came into effect on March 27 to contain spread has compounded the nation’s woes, says Bloomberg, with the central bank anticipating a 6.1% contraction in gross domestic product this year. Economic workgroup Business for South Africa projects there could be 1 million job losses as a result of Covid-19 containment measures. Prior to the onset of the coronavirus, Africa’s most industrialised economy was already grappling with a 29% unemployment rate, says the news agency.
  • The state-owned Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa, which provides funding to agro-processing as well as other manufacturing industries, has said it is willing to work with the Land Bank. Futuregrowth Asset Management, which manages about R194bn, including Land Bank debt, said it is also prepared to aid the cash-strapped lender, says Bloomberg.
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