Editorial
On Saturday night, President Cyril Ramaphosa finally announced what many of us expected: moving the country to level 2 lockdown.
He essentially declared the country open, with most business activities back to normal today. Tobacco and alcohol are back on shelves and restaurants and bars can now serve alcohol but must observe the 10pm curfew.
Gyms, nightclubs, music concerts are also back, but with strict social distancing rules. Domestic travel is also now allowed, and people may visit each other and their families. Life, as we knew it pre-lockdown, is back. But if we think our lives will be back to normal, we have to think again.
Covid-19 has disrupted every facet of our economy and our lives. It has given businesses, government and citizens an opportunity to rearrange our lives and how we do business.
It can no longer be business as usual. We have a chance for a fresh start, to do things differently and to invest our time, resources and energy into building a better, more just and equal society. Covid-19 further reminded us about the gap between the rich and the poor, a gap we have been given a new chance to close.
This will require abandoning the old approach where opportunities continue to go to the politically connected chosen few, as has been the case since 1994. Now, more than ever, the government, civil society and private sector must work closer together to fight poverty, inequality and the rampant corruption destroying our country.
This will not be achieved through poverty summits and commissions of inquiry, but through social compacts with set targets and deliverables.
The time for talkshops and empty promises ends now.
We all welcome lockdown level 2, but we must be even more careful not to walk straight back into the arms of this devastating virus. Covid-19 is going to be with us for a very long time to come, so we must continue to live as if we are still on level 5, washing our hands, sanitising, wearing our masks, social distancing, avoiding crowded places like funerals, weddings, clubs and other places. Medical experts warn of a second wave of the virus that may hit our shores sooner or later - and we must not be caught napping. We’ve lost too many people to Covid-19.
Their stories must constantly remind us that our survival depends on how well we behave under level 2.
It’s really in our hands now.
The Star