SA will overcome these dark days

THE PAST two weeks have been challenging for almost all of us in South Africa.

At the time, the core of our challenges was about our former president’s future.

Noting this, we started this week seeing violent protests and looting at various malls.

It will be incorrect to think all this destruction was for the former president’s support.

The looting in his name is in vain. And all those who committed the acts must be held to account for their actions.

We cannot celebrate the destruction of our infrastructure and businesses, as it does not matter the cause of the protesters. It is more than a year since our national lockdown with all these efforts to add to our problems.

This current challenge will affect us at three levels: at an individual level, the business sector and the national government.

At an individual level, unemployment is at its peak, and it is saddening to witness the damaging or demolishing of our malls and road infrastructure.

At the business level, we see a potential increased cost of capital due to the destruction.

We will need to think of other investments to protect our businesses. Risk-taking will be another element considered.

At government level, the priority was about managing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, especially when we look at this third wave.

The visuals that we saw on TV were discouraging, and it seems people do not respect the regulations put in place to manage the spread of the virus. So, what must be done to ensure that everyone takes this virus seriously and observes all the precautionary measures to prevent its spread?

Quick wins to ensure that we restore our country:

We need to capacitate our country’s intelligence services.

We need to ensure that the cases of all those responsible for Covid-19 looting are prioritised and recover all the lost money.

With the current looting by individuals, police must take the necessary action as required by law.

We also need to accelerate the vaccination of ordinary South Africans so that businesses can start operating at 100% capacity.

Concerted effort to help reduce the unemployed young people by the government and the business sector.

There is still hope for a better South Africa. Let us all support the president in all his efforts to restore calm in our country.

| Wynberg