North West University Professor & political analyst Andre Duvenhage says its’s unclear if President Cyril Ramaphosa will extend the duration of the national lockdown to stop the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
On Tuesday President Cyril Ramaphosa said the National Command Council is still doing an assessment to determine if the 21-day national lockdown was effective.
Ramaphosa is due to meet with his National Command Council and Cabinet in the coming days to decide whether the lockdown will be extended or not.
Speaking to Radio Islam, Duvenhage says it’s going to be a very difficult decision for Ramaphosa to make as the country’s economy is not bidding well during the lockdown.
“If we look at the current figures, I must tell you the situation is not that serious. I think they expected more of a worst-case scenario and in case of a worst-case scenario we would have seen a longer period of lockdown. But in the current scenario it seems to me more likely we will see the end of lockdown towards the 16th of April.”
Duvenhage says the economy was in a very difficult phase even before the Coronavirus emphasizing that there are reports that the country could shed up to four million jobs if the lockdown is extended, something the country will not be able to deal with.
Faizel Patel – 09/04/2020
0 Comments