Give hope a chance when the situation seems hopeless
It is eight months since President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a state of disaster in response to the coronavirus pandemic. We have endured a fierce and destructive pandemic. The world is going through a difficult and challenging time similar to the Spanish flu epidemic a century ago that killed millions.
The coronavirus has caused human suffering and taken our country to the brink of a disaster.
Our economy has contracted by 16.7% in the past quarter. There is rising unemployment as companies retrench and cut costs.
Big business, small business, spaza shops, churches and civil society organisations have all been hit. What was a promising township economy has been all but destroyed and will take years to recover.
Inequality and poverty in our country have been exposed and brought back to the top of the agenda. The disadvantaged and vulnerable have been pushed to the brink. The middle class has been pushed towards poverty.
The Covid-19 outbreak has affected all but has been more detrimental to the most vulnerable, those living in poverty, older persons, persons with disabilities, and young people. People without basic needs, like food and running water, suffer disproportionately from the pandemic and its aftermath.
For many, the situation has become one of daily survival. We need to urgently and adequately address the social, health and economic crisis created by the pandemic and do so in an inclusive manner. The pandemic has increased poverty, inequality, exclusion and discrimination and resulted in a rising level of unemployment.
The government has stopped some financial support benefits, such as the UIF funds to help businesses and individuals stay afloat while their revenues and salary incomes recover. This will result in lay-offs and large-scale job losses.
The adverse impact of the coronavirus has not been limited to economic and financial setbacks; people have also lost loved ones. The pandemic has left widows and orphans destitute. Civil society organisations that normally help and support people in distress are finding it hard to stay open, thus people have been left without help and with nowhere to go.
Consequently, we face a sense of hopelessness in our society and communities. Unless people can find their way out of these difficult situations, despair will set in. People face huge problems that they cannot solve and thus many feel helpless, or feel powerless and unable to steer the direction of their lives. As a result, many are overwhelmed, fatigued and have lost their hope in the future.
In August, Zweli Mkhize, the minister of health, said about 1,800 people in the country had committed suicide since the declaration of the lockdown in March.
The province with the most is Gauteng, with 482 suicide-related deaths. This is followed by KwaZuluNatal at 392. The Eastern Cape had 297 and the Western Cape 180. Mpumalanga had 175 suicide-related deaths, Limpopo 117, followed by the North West with 73. The Free State had 51 and the Northern Cape 44 people who died by suicide.
Some mental-health experts say many South Africans suffer from depression and anxiety because of financial burdens and stress brought about by the pandemic and the lockdown. The experts say the virus has sparked anxiety, panic and an increase in substance abuse.
To overcome this sense of hopelessness, we need a comprehensive and inclusive social partnership that can play a double role in protecting the vulnerable in society, to reduce the prevalence of poverty and mobilise emergency relief resources to support the poor by responding to the immediate crisis. We need to quickly make life-saving interventions to reduce the number of vulnerable and unemployed people.
Working together we can minimise the impact of the unfolding crisis of hopelessness and safeguard the hard-won developmental gains achieved over the past 26 years by stopping people from falling back into extreme poverty.
The coming months may be difficult for everyone but as South Africans we are known for our spirit of tenacity and for overcoming adversity. We are also known for being resilient. We shall overcome, despite the problems that this pandemic has caused, but it will require us to work together to get through this crisis and any future crises to come.
With all the challenges we are facing as individuals and as a country, we cannot afford to lose hope. Hope can be the source of the energy we need to keep on moving forward and hope will carry us through this difficult time. Someone once said, “You can live four days without water, you can live eight days without food, you can live four minutes without oxygen, but you cannot live at all without hope.”
To keep hope alive we must hold on to our dreams and our visions of a better future. We have come too far to give up now, both as a country and as individuals. We have sacrificed too much to give it all up. We have overcome many challenges and difficulties in the past nine months. In the same way, we will overcome them in the future if we don’t lose hope.
There is always light at the end of the tunnel. Don’t lose hope. I believe we will overcome these challenges and come out stronger, better and wiser.
God bless SA and protect its people.