President Cyril Ramaphosa says government’s priority is saving lives and ensuring that it provides the necessary support within its means to prevent more businesses from closing down and more jobs being lost.
“With the pandemic showing no immediate signs of ending, businesses and workers remain vulnerable,” President Ramaphosa said.
In his weekly newsletter, President Ramaphosa thanked the social compacts that government continue to forge with business and labour to work together to buffer workers and businesses from the pandemic’s harsh economic impacts.
President Ramaphosa said there are promising indications that the economy is steadily recovering with growth and job creation in a number of sectors from manufacturing to mining to agriculture.
“Through the interventions we were able to mitigate the worst effects of the pandemic, preventing the closure of many businesses and the loss of even further jobs,” President Ramaphosa said.
President Ramaphosa said starting and building a business is a lot like raising a family, it takes time, patience, constant support and consistent nurturing from infancy to maturity.
“For many business owners, seeing a business that you grew from scratch struggling to survive, or even being forced to close its doors, is heartbreaking.
“Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, this has sadly been the situation facing many businesses both large and small, not just in our country but around the world. Many have had to reduce the working hours of their staff or even retrench them,” President Ramaphosa said.
President Ramaphosa said in dealing with the pandemic, government has sought to adopt an evidence-based approach in both policy and practice, considering scientific research, clinical expertise and capabilities and impact on all sectors of the population.
“We have sought to have a balance between saving lives and preserving livelihoods. We have sought to mitigate the impact of the successive lockdown restrictions on people’s livelihoods, or risk a second and possibly worse epidemic of poverty and hunger in future.
“Through these interventions we were able to mitigate the worst effects of the pandemic, preventing the closure of many businesses and the loss of even further jobs. They provided a firm foundation for the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan that we launched in October last year,” President Ramaphosa said.
President Ramaphosa said government introduced the Presidential Employment Stimulus package to provide income and livelihood support to millions of beneficiaries.
He said through the stimulus, over 300,000 young people have been placed as school assistants.
More than 100,000 subsistence farmers are registered on the first-ever database of its kind where they have access to technical support.
More than 30,000 young people have been given opportunities in the cultural, creative and sports sectors.
President Ramaphosa said young professionals have been given opportunities in infrastructure development, healthcare, environmental conservation and a number of other sectors. – SAnews.gov.za
