Note to Editors: The following statement was delivered by GOOD Member of the Western Cape Provincial Legislature Brett Herron, in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament today. The sitting can be watched on https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRtjEU4TYg1QY2N9iPyYH-A.
STATEMENT BY BRETT HERRON, GOOD SECRETARY-GENERAL AND MEMBER OF THE WESTERN CAPE PROVINCIAL PARLIAMENT
4 June 2020
“LOCKDOWN” VERSUS “OPENING UP”
Speaker, our world has changed irreversibly. We have a global pandemic that has created a global recession.
And, the global climate is changing – as a result of our own rampant consumerism.
The notion that it is “livelihoods” versus “lives” is a false one.
Sweden adopted an open economy approach to the virus.
Its neighbour, Norway, didn’t.
The death rate in Sweden is now ten times that of Norway’s and the economic benefit for Sweden seems to be none.
Norway’s economy is expected to contract by 5%, this year, but Sweden has warned that their GDP will decrease by 7%.
Sweden’s death rate per capita reached the highest in the world this week.
Too many people died in a failed experiment to save the economy.
Like Sweden, we don’t operate in a closed economy.
Our economy is one of the most advanced on the African continent and is an open economy that seeks to trade within the world.
We are highly dependent on trading with developed nations and our trading partners face unprecedented mortality rates and massive economic contraction.
Expecting that saving livelihoods is simply reopening the economy for business as usual is obviously nonsensical.
Normal has gone.
Everything we were doing on this earth, including consuming every resource it offered us without regard for its or our sustainability, was interrupted.
As we contemplate our future we have the opportunity, and the urgent need, to re-invent ourselves.
We all know we are in for a tough time. This government must take the steps to prepare for coming recession, implement steps to aid economic recovery where it can, and make sure it mitigates the risks for spreading the virus.
As we work through this, our plans must be to build a world that is more equal, more just and more sustainable.
We can stop talking about an inclusive economy and a green economy and start to build one.
It can’t be business as normal, because normal ended last year.
We can reinvent the economy, but we cannot resuscitate a dead body.
Ends…