Tag: lockdown

In an address presented by President Cyril Ramaphosa on 21 April 2020, he noted that Government has recognised the significant negative repercussions that the national lockdown is having on our economy, both to businesses and to households across the country. The address also highlighted further tax measures to be implemented as additional relief measures.

SAICA hosted a webinar on 6 April 2020 where Chief Economist for Investec Bank Limited South Africa, Annabel Bishop, spoke about the effects of Sub-investment grade Status and the Coronavirus on our country’s already struggling economy.

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. 

Many employers are asking their teams to work from home, while entrepreneurs who would usually work from a shared space are working from home. This is in order to reduce the risk of employees contracting the COVID-19 virus and adhere to the national lockdown. 

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. 

Businesses who are not providing essential services are likely to be directly and severely affected by the lockdown. For those businesses occupying leased premises, while they may retain the use of the leased premises for certain functions, for example storage of their goods and equipment, they will be deprived of the full use and enjoyment of the premises because they cannot continue to conduct trade or conduct business at the premises for the period of the shutdown.

The global outbreak of Coronavirus and the subsequent national lockdown announced by President Ramaphosa in March 2020 have undoubtedly impacted many companies.

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.

The next few weeks (and beyond) will be a testing time particularly for smaller businesses. Best to see it as a stress test, a way to make your business stronger.

The global COVID-19 pandemic has made its presence felt in South African retail and consumer-focused businesses, especially in tourism and hospitality, but the full impact on earnings, cash flow and employment will last far longer than the initial lockdown.