Putting people first in the battle against COVID-19
President Cyril Ramaphosa has been praised by South African citizens and global leaders for his hard-hitting response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The lockdown he placed the country under was one of the strictest in the world, with citizens only being allowed to leave their homes to buy food and essential provisions, collect a social grant, buy medicine or seek urgent medical care.
Government's response to the global pandemic had to weigh up the financial impact of a lockdown on the country's already fragile economy, with the need to prevent as many infections and deaths as possible.
A range of health interventions and economic and social measures have been put in place to alleviate the effects of the virus on our country and people.
Yes, mistakes made but overall, we can take pride in the way the nation and its people united in the face of great adversity.
Leading the way was a massive contingent of public servants who remained at their posts despite the personal risk they faced. Foremost were our healthcare workers, including emergency medical services/paramedics who were critical to government's efforts to slow the rate of infection.
Equally important were the soldiers and law enforcement officers; the garbage collectors; education officials; social security and Home Affairs officials. Let's not forget about our Post Office personnel who facilitated the payment of grants; essential infrastructure workers who ensured the supply of water, sanitation, electricity and telecommunication services; and those office workers responsible for the delivery of essential human resources, budgeting and payroll activities.
We salute each and every one who enabled the continuous provision of critical and essential services for the effective functioning of the public service during the lockdown.
How long the virus will remain an active threat is unknown so we should continue to observe all
safety protocols communicated by our government.
We must also take our hats off to everyone involved in the largescale roll-out of screening, testing and tracing services.
While the majority of South Africans were safely at home, thousands of field workers visited villages and towns to screen people for the virus.Those who raised red flags were sent to clinics for testing.These clinics – including the 67 mobile sampling and testing units – were selflessly manned by another contingent of healthcare workers.
Government has pulled out all the stops to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Finding and quarantining infected people is of paramount importance and government is using technology to trace people who have been in contact with those who tested positive for COVID-19.
This is especially relevant in informal settlements and townships, where poverty, cramped living conditions and poor infrastructure increase the likelihood of runaway infections.
Through the COVID-19 Data Management Centre, government is also receiving early warning of potential clusters of infections, which enables preventative measures to be taken.
Communities throughout the country have greatly benefitted from the concerted measures taken by government and other social partners to provide relief to vulnerable communities and individuals. Measures included emergency water supplies, food parcels, the distribution of sanitisers and the setting up of temporary facilities to house the homeless. During this period government has also implemented economic relief measures to tide over employees and businesses.
The spread of the pandemic has necessitated that government responds to the need for increased local manufacturing capacity, especially of personal protective equipment and other essential goods and also to assess the capacity of state-owned entities to produce essential supplies.
But while we reflect on government's performance at this difficult time – the public service is as vulnerable to this virus as every other sector – we must acknowledge that the progress we have made to date is thanks to our national philosophy – Growing South Africa together.
It is with this ethos in place that government reached out from the onset of this pandemic to communities of faith, political parties, the business sector, the labour movement, traditional leaders and the international community to ensure that our national response would be a truly inclusive effort.
We therefore attribute a great deal of the success we have recorded in key areas of managing this pandemic to the collaboration demonstrated by many sectors and stakeholders outside of government – including law-abiding citizens who observed the rules and regulations of the lockdown.
While the future remains uncertain, what is clear is that South Africa's synergy, determination and commitment to the Thuma Mina philosophy will help the nation prevail over this pandemic.