With the impact COVID-19 has had not only on the emotional well-being of many South Africans, but also the large impact it has had on the economy, one could be wondering about the coming future and what to expect. At the start of 2020, South Africa’s unemployment rate was unchanged from 2019, standing at 29%, with projections indicating that it could reach as high as 50% in the coming future due to the pandemic
Companies have had no choice but to close doors or work remotely, halting production unless they were deemed essential. This has had a devastating effect on small businesses and their employees, causing a chain reaction.
With all the uncertainty in the air, individuals have been forced to scramble frantically, looking for other means of income, often falling for pyramid or “get rich quick” schemes and losing more in the process. It is apparent that, even with the processes put in place to aid in the fight against poverty during this time, poverty will become rife, with the poor only becoming poorer due to lack to access to education, skills development and internet connectivity, forcing some to go out on the streets or breaking lockdown rules looking for an income to feed their families. The reality is clear, addressing radical transformation earlier this month, President Cyril Ramaphosa was quoted saying that South Africa was witnessing a “total deconstruction” of it’s economy due to COVID-19.
Yet, while we all have to face this reality as it is currently, companies would need to look to the future. The projection of diversity transformation is being considered to rebuild the economy, with clear economic strategies being considered which must be “inclusive, empowering to women, young people and to black people in the main”, as stated by President Cyril Ramaphosa earlier in May. “We must be able and visionary enough to set up this compact to be able to rebuild the economy… and (state owned) entities must function in a way that is developmental, in a way that is ethical and in a way that must be innovative.”
“We are going to have to go for growth in a big and exponential way, and be willing and be brave and courageous enough to massify whatever needs to be done, because playing around on the edges with whatever efforts we are making – that time is over now.”
-President Cyril Ramaphosa
In short, it is imperative that we understand that economic growth will be dependent on strengthening the laws of economic diversity and inclusion, and therefore prepare for it in order to move forward within the projected economic landscape. Our foresight must include a level of resilience and adaptability, considering compliance as not just a tick-box routine, but a sustainable strategy in order to benefit, with non-compliant companies facing the possibility of being left-behind and falling under.
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