Shifting from ha re kgone ke COVID
Much has been said about the disruption in more familiar sectors such as airlines, restaurants, and sports - but the long arm of COVID-19 has also reached out to virtually all sectors with the informal sector in my view being hit the hardest.”
If we consider the occupational structure, we find that a considerable number of our populations workers are committed in highly susceptible occupations including; small shops salespersons, labourers in construction, manufacturing and transport, domestic helpers, housekeeping, painters, street vendors, garbage collectors, restaurant service workers, and market and stall salespersons.
These workers are worse hit during the lockdown and consequently their families.
While there is not enough data to predict how many people will retain a secure job once the pandemic is over, for many the loss of livelihood could be long-term. This presents a perfect opportunity to challenge the youth with opportunity programs that challenge them to Devise mechanisms that extend the coverage of existing informal sector protection programmes enabling this sector to survive the immediate impact of the pandemic.
Where existing registries or databases exist, quick assessments can be made on their relevance for the scale-up of informal protection interventions.
Our government and people also need to introduce reforms to stabilise the long-term impacts of the economic shock on informal workers and find innovative and sustainable ways to identify and reach those that need assistance as only through collective efforts with impact can we realise the restoration of a hopeful and fighting spirit from this sector
As a nation, a quote I find quite profound from Craig D. Lounsbrough is “Apathy is giving up when we need to get up”.
This in my view speaks to the collective efforts we all need to make towards reforms and opportunities to reboot our economy and humanitarian efforts to create growth opportunities.
Hope can never be a policy; it’s time to develop a solution stream which will require the availability of data and the presence of a policy community which systematically converts ideas into solutions. It is time for bold decisions and bold investments, and not for conservative approaches, appreciating the efforts of small traders, in that when we buy local produce from them, we are not just paying them for their goods and services, but are rewarding their contributions.
Let us usher in new reforms, present opportunities for SMME’s to flourish, creative sectors given voices, invest in research and development so one day we look at this crisis as one that presented an opportunity for us to capitalise on self-sufficiency.
Now more than ever, the “ha re kgonne ke COVID mindset,” with our joint efforts should be looked at as; “ka tshwaraganyo Batswana, re kgonne.”
*Modise is the Head of Public Relations and Strategy at The Dialogue Group. He has expert knowledge in solution-provision for matters relating to society which have contributed significantly towards development across several industries.