By BAKANG MOKOTO
Fourteen political parties within the South African parliament came together in unity and stand against the COVID-19. The South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa said the COVID-19 outbreak poses a grave and real threat to the lives, livelihoods, and prosperity of the people.
The global coronavirus pandemic continues to soar up in the country as 150 people are currently infected. Ramaphosa said that South Africa finds itself in an extreme situation that requires extraordinary measures.
“It requires that all South Africans work together in unity and solidarity, in partnership and cooperation. It is, therefore, both appropriate and significant that the 14 political parties in our parliament are standing together, across party political divides to fight this disease together.
“We hereby demonstrate practically that we are united as the leaders of our nation to overcome this global crisis facing our country and our people. Regardless of our political differences, all leaders share a common desire to keep our people safe, to mitigate the impact on our economy, and ensure that the inevitable disruption to lives and livelihoods is reduced,” he said.
Ramaphosa further said they accept their collective and individual duty as leaders to provide guidance and direction to the people and demonstrate the greatest of care and responsibility in their pronouncements and actions. He added that during the course of their discussions, they agreed that the severity of the COVID-19 threat requires an exceptional response that draws on all the resources and capabilities of the nation.
“This response needs to be immediate and that it needs to be sustained. We, therefore, support the measures that the government has announced. Our overwhelming concern must be for the health and the well-being of all South Africans, particularly the poor, the elderly and the vulnerable.
“The actions we take and the decisions that we make must be informed by this imperative. While COVID-19 poses a great threat to our nation, we are not helpless. There is much we can do, as a country and as individual citizens, to slow the spread of the disease, to save lives and improve health outcomes, and to bring the epidemic to an end,” he said.
| Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance (DA) leader, John Steenhuisen said it is safer to say that the country is on the precipice of a full-blown national crisis. Steenhuisen said the implications of which will be devastating to the society, economy and ultimately, the future as a nation.
“Especially given that South Africa was in a precarious economic state prior to Covid-19’s arrival. The DA has already pledged its full support to the fight against the spread of COVID-19 in South Africa, and we remain committed to working side-by-side with National Government to stop the spread of this virus and ensure safety of each and every South African. “We recommend that be a four-month loan forbearance for businesses, rental forbearance for small businesses and a pause in VAT, UIF and Worker’s Compensation Fund payments and outstanding VAT refunds should be paid to businesses urgently. The new VAT payments should be deferred to later this year,” he said.
Steenhuisen added that they are engaging with DA local governments on possible immediate rates payment relief to businesses in their jurisdiction. He said they propose that business rescue proceedings should receive an automatic three-month extension beyond the three months provided for in S132 of the Companies Act, and SAA’s R16.4 billion bailout should be cancelled immediately and the budget amended to allocate this money to disaster management.
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The Guardian 