ACDP calls on government to lift lockdown entirely as GDP decreases by 51%

Mkhize hints SA may move to level 1 in a few days

The ACDP once again calls on the government to lift the lockdown in its entirety and to implement economic growth plans to boost the ailing economy, says ACDP MP Steve Swart in a media statement released yesterday.

He says the staggering 51% drop in the gross domestic product in the second quarter of this year is a direct result of the longest and hardest lockdown worldwide, implemented to combat the spread of the coronavirus, which resulted in thousands of businesses closing their doors.

“The ACDP has consistently called for the lifting of the lockdown (with due health protocols put in place), given the devastating effect it has had on the economy. We have said we must save lives and livelihoods.

“The economy was already in a dire state prior to the lockdown, in a recession, as a result of power outages, policy uncertainty and widespread corruption.

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“Today’s figures mean that the economic recession has extended into a fourth quarter, the longest period of consecutive quarterly contraction since 1992,” says Swart.

He says the party calls on government to implement the National Treasury’s economic growth plan, as well as Business for South Africa’s (B4SA) economic recovery plan.

“If these pro-growth plans are implemented, where possible, and without delay, they will go some way to save a decimated economy,” he says.

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Meanwhile, health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize revealed today that he declining number of Covid-19 infections in SA may see the country move to level 1 in a few days’ time, reports Times Live.

The news comes as the country sits with a cumulative total of 640 441 infections and 15 086 deaths related to Covid-19.

Speaking to Radio Islam, Mkhize said the worst was over, reports Times Live

“We can safely say we are over the surge. June, July and August were the worst months, as predicted by our models. However, we found that not as many people as the model suggested would be affected,” he said.

Mkhize said a number of factors could be attributed to the declining number of infections.

“A major factor is that we embarked on containment measures, and there may well be other factors in the environment here. We are very grateful for the support we got from South Africans to try to contain the spread of the coronavirus.”

Asked when the county could move to level 1 and what measures would be put in place, Mkhize said President Cyril Ramaphosa would give an indication in a few days.

“It’s too early to say. We are still discussing all the issues. The president will give us a sense of direction, but we will be preparing to start easing to the next level,” he said.

“We were quite worried but didn’t have an increase in the number of cases when we moved from level 3 to level 2, which has really been good news because we do want to get back to normal activities so we will have to move to level 1. We hope we can still contain the numbers. The past weeks have been very encouraging with no upsurge.

“We need to still keep some measures around mixing, gatherings and so on, but we need to start opening up more economic activities as we move on. We need to get our economy back to its normal footing, we need to get people jobs, we need to get people to earn incomes. Everyone must be able to survive on their own without needing further assistance from government,” he said.

Mkhize warned that caution must be exercised to avoid another surge in infections.

“We are not out of the woods. We must always be careful because infections may rise again in the same way this is happening in Spain, America, Iran and Korea.”

He thanked all religious leaders who supported the fight against the pandemic.

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“They have given us tremendous support in this fight. If we didn’t get this support and co-operation from the imams in mosques, from churches and church leaders, from synagogues and rabbis, the risks in religious gatherings would have been huge. That they were able to contain their numbers in the past six months because there were no big gatherings, they must be given applause,” said Mkhize.