UCT Prof Jonny Meyers and Wits Prof Shabir Madhi penned their insights for Business Day on the three main factors for the third wave of infections were and what the province now needs to do to avert a full-blown health crisis. And we may well have entered that crisis already, in Financial Mail’s editorial today the publication lays bare the horrifying statistics attached to the third wave, “Over the past two weeks, Covid cases in SA’s economic heartland, which accounts for 34% of the country’s GDP, have risen by more than 83,000, with 7,000 people in hospital and 1,098 in ICUs.” Gauteng Premier David Makuru said publicly this week that his house was burning.
Martin Williams tells President Cyril Ramaphosa to “dream on” in his highly critical piece published in The Citizen. Williams delivers a scathing rebuke of the president and the ANC-led government for failing to roll out a vaccination drive, the corruption that came with COVID-19 relief funding, the failings of BEE and any allusions of grandeur that the government might have about being even remotely competent to lead the country. Ouch…
And in the Mail & Guardian, Ian Fuhr looks to entrepreneurship to save SA’s youth from the unemployment pool. South Africa’s unemployment rate sits at an unacceptable level with 32% of citizens jobless while the youth unemployment rate is at a staggering 55%. Fuhr argues that one of the ways we may be able to turn this around is to help the country’s youth build their own businesses and empower themselves and others through entrepreneurial job creation.
Here’s a roundup of opinions online today:
South African motor industry booming despite pandemic – The Citizen
How the launch of SA’s first woman-owned bank became a nightmare of bad PR – Fin24 (Subscribe to read)
Government’s reform agenda doesn’t extend to the steel industry – Business Day
Will workplace technology automation badly affect women, in particular? – Business Day (Subscribe to read)
