Tag: lockdown

On 9 April 2020, the Government issued Notice 43224, Regulation 459, effective as of 9 April 2020 which provides directions regarding the operation of Essential Service Call Centres during the Lockdown Period. 

There is promise after the storm, but good planning is needed by business owners in the restaurant, bar and events industry.

The Covid-19 crisis has brought much of the world economy to a sudden stop. Millions upon millions of people are in lockdown across the world, preventing them from working, buying, producing and selling goods and services. Global and local supply chains are interrupted, and small and large companies see a collapse in income. Households are under similar pressure.

Advocates of the lockdown ignore the most basic law of life, that benefits have costs, and that costs easily exceed benefits. People's most 'essential' need is income; the country's most 'essential' need is production. The government's decision to extend the lockdown might cause more premature deaths than far less extreme measures, or even lifting existing measures completely. The economic and human rights impact is more extreme than all but a few realise.

Business is looking anything but usual for many organisations, large and small. The national lockdown, a decisive strategy to flatten the spread of the COVID-19 virus, is causing leadership and employees to rapidly consider virtual communication strategies for employees who are able to continue with business while working from home.

Whereas I am not a Corona Virus expert, I have been a hypochondriac for some years. I am also am a radio talk show host, author and a social commentator, which perhaps qualifies me in some way to speak of social impact of this illness,

Legally we have entered unchartered waters that government, perhaps understandably, appears unable to navigate. Practically, the coronavirus regulations cannot be adhered to in a society composed like South Africa’s. In whichever way one approaches the issue, the coronavirus regulations should in large part be set aside and replaced by less restrictive measures to control the pandemic.

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.

South Africa has been on lockdown for more than a week. Integral to the lockdown regulations are the forced closures of businesses that are not deemed 'essential' by government.

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.