Hope is an intangible emotion that is hard to define, yet it has fuelled the aspirations of generations throughout the history of mankind. During the darkest days of apartheid, hope for a just and free society kept the flame of the fight for democracy and freedom alive.
Since the unprecedented start of the Covid-19 pandemic over the past 14 months, South Africans and people throughout the world have been united by the hope of defeating the virus and returning to their usual way of life. The relentless spread of the virus across the world, which left many people dead and others without livelihoods as a result of the socioeconomic turmoil, has caused untold hardship and despair.
However, the flame of hope has since been reignited by the availability of life-saving Covid-19 vaccines, which carry the promise of turning the tide in the fight against the deadly virus.
SA has secured 9m doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which has been shown to be effective against the 501Y.V2 variant. The first batch of 80,000 doses of the vaccine, which arrived in the country this week, has kick-started our nationwide immunisation programme with the vaccination of healthcare workers. This is the first phase of the vaccine rollout plan to protect the vanguards of our fight to defeat the virus before being extended to all members of the public.
In the midst of our renewed hope, the vaccination programme is aimed at protecting us against the virus to ensure that we are healthy enough to return to work and our way of life, without the constant fear of the virus.
The pandemic has tested our resolve as a nation, after many people, especially breadwinners, lost their jobs, our economy slowed down and some people felt a profound sense of hopelessness and anxiety.
When former president Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela walked out of the gates of Victor Verster Prison in the Western Cape 31 years ago, flickers of hope that freedom was imminent shone brightly. As he stood on the balcony of the Cape Town City Hall to address the jubilant masses who had come to welcome him, he said: “Now is the time to intensify the Struggle on all fronts. To relax our efforts now would be a mistake which generations to come will not be able to forgive.”
During his Sona recently, President Cyril Ramaphosa chose to reflect on this seminal moment in our history; to remind us that whatever the challenges, we must continue to march relentlessly towards a better tomorrow.
The president also announced that measures to support vulnerable sectors of our society to mitigate the socioeconomic impact of Covid-19, will continue. The special Covid-19 social relief of distress grant of R350 has been extended by a further three months. Likewise, the Covid-19 Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (Ters) has been extended to March 15 for those sectors that have not been able to operate. By mid-February, the Covid Ters had paid more than R57bn in wage support to over 4.5m workers.
The R100bn Infrastructure Fund is ready to support planned infrastructure development, including upgraded highways. In addition to the first priority intervention of government’s economic reconstruction and recovery plan of a massive rollout of infrastructure throughout the country, the second one aims to support a massive increase in local production and to make SA exports globally competitive.
Small, medium and micro enterprises will be boosted by procuring 1,000 designated locally produced products from them.
On the jobs front, the presidential employment stimulus had by the end of January supported over 430,000 job opportunities and a further 180,000 opportunities were in the recruitment process by mid-February.
Government supports a stable and reliable energy supply to ensure economic growth, and will in the coming weeks issue a request for proposals for 2,600 megawatts from wind and solar energy as part of a bid window.
During the next financial year, the government will establish a Land and Agrarian Reform Agency to fast-track land reform. The government has already redistributed over 5m hectares of land, totalling about 5,500 farms, to more than 300,000 beneficiaries. The land restitution process has benefited over 2m land claimants and resulted in the transfer of around 2.7m hectares.
• Williams is director-general of the GCIS
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