STATEMENT BY BRETT HERRON, SECRETARY-GENERAL OF GOOD AND MEMBER OF THE WESTERN CAPE PROVINCIAL PARLIAMENT
23 APRIL 2020
PRESIDENT MOVES SOUTH AFRICA FROM LEVEL 5 TO LEVEL 4 OF CORONA VIRUS RESTRICTIONS.
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE IS OF CAUTIOUS PROGRESS.
As expected the President announced the first phase of easing the Corona Virus lockdown restrictions.
The President’s announcement is one of cautious progress in the fight to contain the transmission of the virus.
This will come as some relief to most South Africans who have endured four weeks of a hard lockdown mostly with patience and compliance.
We needed to hear that these universal hardships are working.
Most South Africans remain anxious about the future of their health, jobs, income and businesses. Many younger South Africans are anxious about their education.
As we enter the final week of level 5, which is hard lockdown, it is imperative that we receive the promised details of what level 4 will mean and that these details are coherent.
Our government must continue to hold our confidence.
The details of which sectors may begin to return to business, when this will happen and how, will give meaning to the President’s cautious message that we are making progress.
The President’s indications that some easing of the social restrictions will also be made, as part of level 4, will also ease our anxiety and sustain compliance with the behavioural changes we have all made.
The President is correct that the shutdown of our economy is not sustainable indefinitely and that we must also make sure that we do allow the country’s health system to be so overwhelmed so as to result in unnecessary deaths.
This is the delicate balance we as a country must walk.