A crucial Cabinet gathering

THE CABINET meeting today is one of the crucial gatherings it has had to decide on the economic recovery plan to deal with the Covid-19 crisis.

South Africa is sitting on a time bomb with many people going hungry as the lockdown begins to bite and with more tough days ahead.

Economists have already warned of massive job losses that would lead to thousands of people joining the swelling ranks of the unemployed.

The economy of China has already shrunk by 6.8% in the first quarter. Many global economies are headed in the same direction, and South Africa is not immune to the economic downturn.

When the Cabinet meets today it would have to factor in how to get out of the quagmire and provide more basic necessities to those who need food.

These are tough times for the country and tough decisions have to be made. As Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has said, it is a balancing act to strike between a lockdown and opening the economy to allow those who are hungry to get something to eat.

But the Cabinet meeting has to craft a recovery plan that will be able to deal with the socio-economic impact of Covid-19, which is leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.

The ministers in the economic cluster and other clusters of government have a serious job at hand to ensure the economy does not collapse.

The country was in a recession before the coronavirus outbreak.

The situation has worsened in the past few weeks after most businesses and major industries were closed for the lockdown.

The ball is now in the court of the government to make the right decision to ensure the economic recovery plan will put the country back on its feet.