Tag: COVID-19

The rapid global spread of COVID-19 has forced business, education, and social activities to be conducted virtually. But amidst the crisis, platform companies are enabling video conferencing, food, grocery and essential supplies delivery, AI-driven COVID-19 tracking, social connectivity, and entertainment for a restless population sheltering in place.

Okay, I have decided to nail my colours to the mast on COVID-19. And before you ask… No, I am not an epidemiologist or economist. Nor am I a politician with votes to garner, or a journalist who revels in sensationalism. I am just an opinionated individual with no power other than to express my opinion. And I am angry and saddened and sound it.

With most of the world shut down to varying degrees in response to the global coronavirus pandemic, the importance of connectivity has been magnified. Without reliable connectivity, a country is doomed to languish on the wrong side of the digital divide.

Countless businesses have come to a grinding halt during lockdown and the fear that this will affect their employees on a personal level is very real. Many are struggling to pay their staff and are having to decide whether to implement salary cuts or begin retrenchment processes.

Yes. Now we know that working from home works, many employees will want to keep doing it when the coronavirus crisis fades. Many employers won’t mind because they have already invested in the costs associated with remote working such as cloud set-ups and connectivity and have had some proof that the concept works.

The scale of the national COVID-19 lockdown is unprecedented in living memory. The repercussions – personal, professional, national and international – will reverberate for years to come. As entrepreneurs, we need to be making the right decisions for right now to ensure that our businesses and our people’s livelihoods do not become another casualty of the virus. 

'Anything dead coming back to life hurts'. These words were written by Tony Morrison in her powerful book Beloved. The character was talking about a starkly different scenario, but I believe the principle stands true to our world today. We are very slowly entering a phase of coming back to life.

The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) has recognised the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak and provided special guidelines that will apply during the pandemic. The HPCSA will continue to operate, but with restrictions.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) once again unanimously voted in favour of lowering the repo rate this month, although 2 out of the 5 members preferred a shallower cut. In a vote of 3 to 2, the MPC decided to lower the repo rate by 50bp to 3.75%.

On 29 April 2020, the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, published regulations in terms of the National Disaster Management Act which regulate the Alert Level 4 conditions during the COVID-19 national disaster.