Africa-Press – Gambia. South Africa must finalize a policy on vaccine mandates for certain settings and activities as it seeks to fully reopen its coronavirus-battered economy, the nation’s ruling party said.
“The success of our economic recovery depends to a large measure on our ability to effectively manage Covid-19, as this virus is likely to remain part of our lives for the foreseeable future,” President Cyril Ramaphosa, who heads the African National Congress, said at a rally in the northern town of Polokwane on Saturday that marked the 110th anniversary of the party’s founding. Africa’s most-industrialized economy contracted the most in at least two decades in 2020 and unemployment surged to a record 35% last year as virus-related lockdowns shuttered businesses, stalled trade, and weighed on tax revenue. The government started offering Covid-19 booster shots in December, even with only about 45% of adults fully vaccinated.
Income Support
The government started paying a temporary social relief grant to jobless people during the pandemic.
With the payments due to end in March, ANC ministers and academics have proposed the introduction of a permanent basic income grant in one of the world’s most unequal societies. The big sticking point is how it should be funded within a stretched national budget.There’s a clear need for some form of income support for the unemployed and poor, based on affordability and sustainability, Ramaphosa said.
“This in many ways is what is causing comrade Enoch Godongwana to lose more and more of his hair,” Ramaphosa said, referring to the finance minister. This very issue “is standing as a huge challenge that we have to find some resources for,” he said.
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