SOUTH AFRICA

MARC FLETCHER PRIESTLEY 1986-1984 BLOUBERG, CAPE TOWN – SEPTEMBER 2020

South Africa had one of the most stringent lockdowns globally. We had a curfew from 8pm to 4am and were not allowed to leave our homes except for grocery shopping or medical needs. To the point where if you were found on the street without a shopping bag or a doctor’s note you were fined and issued with a criminal record. The government also banned tobacco products and alcohol which ultimately created a massive underground black market. We were not allowed to exercise outside of our homes, so many people were running marathons on 3m balconies. We also had the army on the streets and our police service which is already quite para-military so there was a lot of ‘force’ on the streets. This is not so unusual for us here as South Africa has laws that permit gun ownership in private hands, but the army was not trained for urban and domestic law enforcement so there were many incidents of heavy handed enforcement.

South Africa has a large divide between the rich and the poor. Many of the poor live in what are known as ‘Townships’ – these are in some places just shacks on hillsides, lowlands, river estuary’s or highway sidings. The density of population and poor sanitation in these areas were big risk factors in the spread of the virus. The lockdown was so severe from a commerce perspective that many industries (tourism, travel, hotels, restaurants, liquor, tobacco etc) either failed completely or took a very big hit. Due to the restrictions of lockdown the Government’s tax revenue was greatly reduced. This has widened the deficit leaving South Africa in a serious risk of an increased sovereign debt. The government closed the borders to the rest of the world and as of September they remain closed which means we have no freedom of travel. I felt the Government could have had a better way of segmenting the restrictions based on risk profiles, not banning tobacco and liquor (which caused many to lose their jobs and income), and focused on the high risk areas whilst balancing the economy. The restrictions at time seemed arbitrary and draconian and for some counter-productive to a post Covid-19 society.

The ANC (Government) is corrupt to the point that the President (who is also part of the ANC) has finally admitted that after years of corruption at all levels of Government, the Pandemic was the final straw that broke the camel’s back.

On a personal note the economic impact took a hit on our household, both my income and my wife’s income was affected by Covid-19. This was balanced by not driving much, not eating out, and generally having less need to spend money. My work became very challenging as I work on complex IT solution sales, so adapting to selling over a telephone and Microsoft Teams was an initial challenge, however the industry has learnt to adapt. Not having face-to-face interaction has personally made life more challenging. Not being able to travel has also had a massive impact – my parents and sibling live in the UK and my father was diagnosed with cancer in February 2020; I have not been able to travel to the UK to spend time with him. I don’t see myself being able to see them in person until 2021.

The new normal is here to stay to some degree. As of two weeks ago, we are still in level two. We have been given tobacco and alcohol back but it’s August and we still have a curfew. The impact of Covid-19 will have a very lasting effect on the country and its citizens. We will perhaps get to Level one between November 2020 and May 2021. This would be when the governement will remove the State of Disaster which is how the government operates with emergency powers without oversight or democratic governance. After this point they will open the borders to the world and we hope that we will be able to rebuild the ailing economy.

There is not much to say about the Covid-19 virus other than its effect of having a major economic disruption on commerce and our industry in general. Not forgetting the severe medical effect on the population of the country, even though the latest figures of virus related deaths is only just under 19000, which is much less of a percentage of the total population compared to most other countries.

There is also not much I can say about myself as I moved over to my daughter and son-in-law’s home the day before our country-wide lockdown was imposed (26 March 2020). The plan now is to stay with them on a permanent basis in a separately built cottage on their property when funds permit. This move did not prevent both my daughter and I testing positive with the virus but fortunately only necessitated a short stay in hospital to recover, thank the Lord. No pictures I’m afraid, anyway who wants to be photographed with one of those dreadful surgical masks covering half of one’s face!