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Finance Minister Tito Mboweni recently briefed the nation on government’s coordinated economic and financial response to the coronavirus (COVID-19), confirming that National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank worked together on a set of responses to the crisis. 

There are five main components to government’s economic response, namely;

Cuban doctors are set to bolster South Africa’s COVID-19 fight.

South Africa is intensifying its efforts to curb the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) with assistance from 217 Cuban doctors. 

The doctors, who arrived in South Africa recently, bring expertise in the fields of epidemiology, biostatistics and public health. 

These are historic times, with life as we know it in a state of flux. It is important that people keep abreast of all developments so that they can adhere to lockdown restrictions and keep themselves safe – but to do this, they need to know the difference between real and fake news.

Fake news is based on information that is not correct. It is often created by individuals who want to spread fear and panic, or by people who believe in theories that are not based on any scientific fact. 

Registered spaza shops and general dealers that have been affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) will be assisted with funding from the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD). 

Funding of R7 000, per spaza shop or general dealer, will be provided by the DSBD, which has partnered with Nedbank to facilitate the Spaza Shops and General Dealers Support Scheme. The scheme forms part of the Small Enterprise Finance Agency’s Khula Credit Guarantee Scheme.

The National Department of Health recommends that everyone in South Africa should wear a cloth face-mask (also known as a non-medical mask) when in public. 

Commuters travelling in taxis and other forms of public transport, as well as people spending time in spaces where physical distancing is difficult to practice, are mustwear cloth face-masks.

COVID-19 relief funds have been made available for unemployed people and payments should be made from mid-May.

South African citizens, permanent residents and refugees who have been affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) will benefit from the Special COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress Grant. 

The grant was initially announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in April when he talked about the socio-economic measures that government would introduce to assist citizens in need during the various levels of the national lockdown. 

South Africans can help the nation reopen for business and leisure by adhering to the prevailing restrictions.

South Africa has officially moved to Level Four lockdown restrictions, put in place to slow the spread COVID-19 the coronavirus disease.

COVID-19 infections in South Africa continue to rise and the virus poses a significant threat to our country. Government has thus taken a careful approach, consisting of five lockdown levels, to fully reopen the economy.

Level Four explained

South Africa moved from Level Five to Level Four on 1 May.

Government is making good on its promise to cushion the financial impact of the lockdown on the country’s most vulnerable citizens.

Government has temporarily increased social grants for South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) beneficiaries as of May, to alleviate poverty among millions of citizens.

Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu says social grants remain a critical safety net for the poor during the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown.

The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture’s Coronavirus (COVID-19) Relief Fund has come to the rescue of 293 financially distressed athletes, Minister Nathi Mthethwa announced recently.

This comes after a R150 million relief fund was announced to assist artists, athletes, technical personnel and the core ecosystem of the sector.

The entire world is in the unrelenting grip of the coronavirus pandemic, whose spread has been rapid. A vaccine has yet to be found. Across the world, over 3.4 million people are known to be infected and more than 240,000 have died. These are indeed desperate times.