Tag: COVID-19

As email inboxes and WhatsApp groups clutter up with advice of how to cope with COVID-19, I suggest three simple questions to help guide consumers in these unprecedented times. The best way to reduce premiums during lockdown – without abandoning cover altogether - is to reassess risk exposures and adjust cover accordingly.  

With President Cyril Ramaphosa announcing a phased lifting of the lockdown commencing 1 May, many business owners and managers are starting to prepare for the safe return of workers to the workplace. We put a number of business continuity contingency plans into action well ahead of the lockdown.

Last week, government addressed the public and announced last-minute changes to the Level 4 lockdown regulations. Whilst these changes angered most and pleased some, the overriding problem with them is the inherent arbitrariness.

The world is facing one of its gravest crises in recent memory as it stares down COVID-19 and the wealth management industry has a key role to play by steadying the investment ship and navigating investors’ safely through this storm.

Business owners need to ensure that their workspaces are properly cleaned and thoroughly cleansed before employees report for duty once the lockdown has been lifted. It is expected that large numbers of workers will be able to return to work, but it is critical to ensure that their workspaces are properly cleansed and that hygiene measures are kept at the highest possible level to prevent the possible transmission of the coronavirus.

COVID-19, the virus which is shaking the world — is rapidly increasing the number of employees who work remotely. This mass exodus of employees from the 'more secure' office environment into the unsecured home terrain is a breeding ground for cyber security risk. 

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. 

President Cyril Ramaphosa presented the five-level, risk-adjusted strategy that will guide South Africa’s emergence from lockdown. As the finer points of the strategy were shared, it became clearer how - and when - certain sectors will once again gear up into activity.

The case for economic recovery out of the deep COVID-19 recession has been given a confidence boost by the Government’s decisive response to the crisis. The praise being showered on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s steps taken to unlock the economy and the economic stimulus packages to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic should give the country confidence that we are moving in the right direction.

A loan from the IMF could instil investor confidence – with or without conditions. The previous announcement by the Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni that the South African Government is considering approaching the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for financial assistance amid the COVID-19 pandemic has drawn quite a bit of criticism.