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As per every email sent these days, we are in unprecedented, trying times.

Various experts (and ‘not experts’ on social media) talk about having to face up to a new normal, with rolling lockdowns that could last three years.

Our economy is also taking a massive hit, with job losses numbering in the millions and an economy that could contract between 7% and 12% due to the impact of COVID-19.

So yes, these are unprecedented, trying times, and according to Business for South Africa, which represents the country’s biggest business organisations, those numbers above could be considered conservative.

Bloomberg reports:

South Africa needs to end a lockdown within weeks or Africa’s most industrialized economy could hemorrhage as many as four million jobs and contract by 16% this year, the nation’s main business group said.

The country lacks the financial resources to withstand the extended closure of companies, said Martin Kingston, head of…Business for South Africa.

Safety protocols must be put in place and commerce must restart, he said in an interview.

Kingston argues that unlike the European Union, or the US, or China, we cannot withstand a drawn-out process, and we need to power through the alert levels in weeks, rather than months.

Although he’s clearly focused on the economic outlook, Kingston has support from the likes of Salim Abdool Karim, Chairperson of the COVID-19 Ministerial Advisory Committee, who said earlier in the week that “keeping the economy almost completely closed beyond May 1 would have served little purpose”.

Regarding our businesses confidence index, it’s quite a plunge in recent times:

Whilst the country’s poorest citizens continue to be the hardest hit, Kingston stresses that all South Africans will need to reconsider their lifestyles:

Sacrifices will need to be made, he said in reference to an ongoing debate on whether to try and keep the bankrupt national airline, South African Airways, afloat.

Businesses will also have to tighten their belts and may need to narrow the gap between management and worker salaries, and consider reducing dividend payments to conserve resources, he said.

“We are going to have to embark on a steeper trajectory of inclusive and sustainable growth,” he said. “We can’t expect that people are going to enjoy the lifestyles they’ve had until now in a post Covid-19 era.”

Sorry, there goes that second overseas holiday per year.

On a serious note, buckle up, because there’s no escaping the effects of a global pandemic, and this ride is only just beginning.

[source:bloomberg]