Covid-19 might seem like an inconvenience for now but the influence of viruses on life goes beyond the present tragedies we face. This is no different from what could be expected of the aftermath of the current ravaging coronavirus.
Whatever happens to be the "end" of the actual pathogens, a valid discourse is what would the legacy of this trying time be?
It has been almost seven months since the first case of the novel coronavirus struck the shores of the land, and in those long months, many unfortunate deaths have occurred. From the aged and weak citizens to the fit and seemingly healthy kids, coronavirus has not spared any segment of society.
Many reasons have been put forward as the causes of these deaths, some people had underlying health conditions, some lacked access to adequate medical care and in some instances, governmental incompetence had made all efforts fruitless. The failings of many government agencies have been magnified at these times and the ineptitude of the bureaucratic systems in SA has been brought to the fore.
Many industries and sectors have had to adapt to this new situation. South Africans like most people world over are working from home or at least remotely. Restaurants and groceries stores are expanding their curbside pickup systems, schools are doing contact-less teaching and as a person, I can’t think of a time where the camera and speaker on my laptop had worked more. We are all increasingly seeing that there are many things that we would normally do physically which could also be done online.
Although there was understandable initial resistance, more people have come to accept that there has been a shift in what used to be. I think CVs and application letters in the future will include not just the number of years of experience, rather the emphasis will be on ability to work online. Work colleagues might not know each other in person, non-essential office work might never return to physical work and some forms of physical disability as an impediment to getting employment will be a thing of the past. According to the Economist, social distancing has profoundly changed the way people behave, we are seeing a decline of office romances and of collegiate gossip.
New and innovative ways of getting things done are constantly being developed, but excuses for non-performance is also gaining traction. An old African proverb goes thus “you can only wake a sleeping person; you can’t wake someone pretending to sleep”.
For people truly seeking, they are finding working online to be (nearly) effective and efficient. But in my experience, government agencies have seemingly found in corona virus, an excuse of choice when it comes to incompetence in relation to service delivery.
Concerningly, Covid has become an excuse of choice these days. Ineptitude has found a new refuge. A friend of mine was at a government office to get his new baby’s birth certificate and he had to spend in excess of six hours, reason; corona.
Also, a civil contractor friend was bemoaning how long his payments have been delayed by a particular department, according to him he literally begs for what is rightfully due and that is a sad circumstance.
The cause of this sad situation is not because of the virus per se, it has more to do with it having become the preferred excuse to become more inefficient without consequences. I think some public servants and government agencies are milking this pandemic situation to justify their lack of willingness to become effective. Prior to now, we know how laid back and lackadaisical government office staff sometimes appear.
The government is planning to fully reopen the economy, the government needs all the revenue they can get at these times, all agencies need to be efficient, effective and accountable.
My fear is that aren’t these excuses going to become one of the legacies of Covid? We are still battling with the negative legacies of apartheid, now we have Ccovid, if these times linger for too long, it might take so much time to reorientate some workers back into how to work without relying on the excuse of corona.
*Dr Ijasan is an Associate Professor at the school of construction economics and management at Wits University
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