Our scientists and transparent leadership in managing Covid-19 should be celebrated and not punished as we learn to live responsibly with Covid-19.
It is not a time for knee-jerk decisions and panic. Our president, Cyril Ramaphosa, and leaders in the government, are entirely correct in keeping SA at Level 1 while prioritising vaccination for all those who access public spaces. A possible fourth wave has been expected for some time. Managing the pandemic with covid protocols and increasing the number of vaccinated citizens rather than restrictive lockdown levels that further negatively impact the economic plight of ordinary South Africans are what we need now when many sectors are beginning to return to a new form of normal operations.
Recent reports of the new Omicron caught the world by surprise and elicited what many have characterised as knee-jerk reactions which saw the UK, the EU the US and other developed countries slapping travel bans on most southern African countries, including SA. This was a rude shock on our travel and tourism industry, which was banking on the festive season for recovery as many companies were just inching above half-occupancy levels. The ripple effects will be felt throughout the whole economy, including government finances.
We support the president’s stance of challenging his fellow global leaders on their unjustified isolation of southern Africa and in some cases alarmist messaging when they should be celebrating our excellent scientists for identifying this variant early and being transparent about it with the rest of the world. Identifying the new variant does not mean it originates from SA and punishing us for transparency may disincentivise other countries from being more transparent.
This is especially upsetting after they had committed to reopening international travel at the G20 meeting in Rome last month to kickstart the recovery of the tourism sector worldwide. These travel bans are not backed by science. Rather than knee-jerk travel bans, western, more wealthier countries could rather focus on efficiently getting vaccines into less wealthy countries and encouraging covid protocols in their own regions, especially the wearing of masks in public spaces.
As the International Women’s Forum of SA (IWFSA), we are also deeply concerned by how the announcement of this new variant was handled by the leaders of western countries. As you may be aware, women bear the brunt of poverty and thus any further disruption of economic activity on the scale that we saw in 2020 will throw millions more into poverty, including children. The impact on the tourism sector has a direct consequence on many jobs largely filled by women.
The global pandemic’s ramifications for the majority women, who carry the burden of care in all spheres of society, has certainly eroded the progress women have been making. A study commissioned by UN Women last year and the UN Development Programme estimated a 9.1% increase in the poverty rate for women because of Covid-19. We estimate this to increase with any destabilisation of our already fragile communities.
For us to fight and win against Covid-19 requires all hands on deck and cohesive leadership from both the government and the private sector. South Africans need to continue playing their part too in observing all Covid-19 protocols such as wearing masks, washing hands and getting vaccinated. This is mandatory if we are to win this fight.
As IWFSA we remain committed to continuing to work with the government on the recovery of the economy and prioritising women as important stakeholders and agents of change.
• Charnley is president of the International Women’s Forum of SA.
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