2,000 Covid-19 deaths; Tito shake-up budget; Tsogo Sun rescues Marriott hotels; back-to-work for hairdressers, massage

By Jackie Cameron

  • Almost 93,000 people in South Africa have tested positive for Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic. Just under 2,000 people have died from the disease, with most of these in the Western Cape.
  • Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has told Parliamentarians that the Treasury is set to unveil “very serious and unusual changes” to its expenditure plans this week. Mboweni is scheduled to deliver a revised budget on June 24 to deal with the damage unleashed on the South African economy by Covid-19.  Some economists and analysts have called for tax relief and other business-friendly measures, while others expect the rich to be hit with more tax. For more on that, do log on to Biznews.com where you will see several insightful articles on how the ANC government can fix the economy, which was ailing before Covid-19 containment shut the cashflow taps to businesses.
  • Tsogo Sun has come to the rescue of thousands of jobs after Marriott announced it was closing three hotels. Tsogo Sun Hotels says it is to take over Mount Grace in Magaliesburg, the Edward in Durban and the Protea Hotel Hazyview in Mpumalanga and is committed to their long-term sustainability This follows an announcement by Marriott that they have closed three hotels and are removing them from the Marriott system as a result of the impact of Covid-19. The hotels include the Mount Grace Country House & Spa in Magaliesburg and the Protea Hotel by Marriott Durban Edward. Tsogo Sun says:

“noted the distress this has caused within the travel and tourism industry and the communities where these hotels are situated, as expressed on various social media platforms”. The hotel industry globally and in South Africa is undoubtably experiencing one of the most disruptive and difficult periods in its history and it will take some time to recover to its previous activity levels. With the recent announcement by President Ramaphosa of a relaxation of lock down regulations several of our hotels have opened but are operating on limited capacity and will remain so until demand patterns and flight activities in both the domestic and ultimately the international markets begin to normalise.  Tsogo Sun says it continues to plan for a phased reactivation of properties, with the full portfolio expected to be open within twelve to eighteen months and will now include these three iconic properties in our planning.”

  • A bank set up by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa has awarded $1bn (about R17.5bn) worth of emergency loan assistance to South Africa. The New Development Bank said in a statement that the money has been allocated to supporting the Government of South Africa in its efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19 and reduce human, social and economic losses caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
  • Hairdressers, tattoo artists and nail technicians are some of the people who can officially get back to work, with the government gazetting the rules of business at the weekend. Government has released the regulations for personal care services, including hair salons, tattoo parlours, and massage therapists. Some of the rules outlined by the government include: Hand washing before and after each client; social distancing between customers and staff wherever possible; and the use of cloth face masks to reduce the chance of spreading Covid-19.
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