4 June 2020
The Alliance Political Council and Secretariat deepened Alliance engagements and consultation in the face of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, especially following confirmation of the first Covid-19 positive case in South Africa in March 2020. In April and May 2020 the Alliance Political Council held four meetings, while the Alliance Secretariat met in between the meetings of the Alliance Political Council, sometimes twice a week. The Alliance Secretariat established an Alliance Task Force that met in between its meetings to perform the work it was assigned, in response to Covid-19. The engagements centred on the management of the pandemic and our responses as the Alliance, country and continent.
Alliance Covid-19 Framework document
The Secretariat today publicly releases the Framework document, adopted by the Alliance Political Council and the NEC of the ANC as well as the SACP and Cosatu. The Covid-19 Framework document has guided our approach to the political economy of Covid-19, as the pandemic unfolded over the last few months.
It recognises that the Covid-19 pandemic, which over the past few months since it started in December 2019, has seen over 6.7 million cases and over 360 000 global deaths. In less than two months, it has overtaken the number of deaths from malaria, as well as from malnutrition, influenza and other global causes of morbidity, with the spike in deaths after northern hemisphere flu season in April and May 2020. There is neither recommended therapeutic medicine nor vaccination yet. These are under development and trial, implying that we will live with Covid-19 for a number of months.
The Alliance Covid-19 framework notes that globally, countries with strong public health systems, with comprehensive social security systems and developmental states fared much better in halting the spread of the pandemic, and in cushioning or assisting their citizens and economies to weather the social and economic impacts. On the flipside, countries with delayed interventions have seen fast rising infections, challenges to their health systems and deaths.
The pandemic has affected all countries of the world. It affects families, communities and nations, and it impacts on workers and businesses, large and small. By April 2020, over 85% of children were out of school, as 160 countries had some form of school closures. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought to a halt the global travel, sports, performing arts, and tourism, among others industries.
The impact on global and national economies is equally devastating, with slowing production and demand, and there are fears of a global recession, if not a depression. It has therefore become an era of stimulus, as countries seek to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on their economies and citizens.
The Covid-19 pandemic is a novel pandemic in humans, and no single country has a blueprint. We are all learning, from science, and by doing, and from each other, and adapting as circumstances demand.
South Africa had its first case on 5 March 2020. A state of national disaster was declared shortly thereafter, with various phases of lockdown. As at yesterday, we stand at over 35 000 confirmed cases, and over 750 deaths. This is much lower than the cases and deaths projected as the pandemic reached our shores, although one life lost, is one too many. The Alliance conveys its sincere condolences to the families that lost their loved ones as a result of the pandemic and wishes those contracted the virus a speedy recovery.
Covid-19 has exposed the ugly face of South Africa’s structural fault lines of poverty, unemployment and inequality, and has disproportionally affected and will more likely continue to affect poor and working class communities, with their gender, geographical and racial dimensions.
The Framework paper therefore points towards the seven pillars of South Africa’s response to the pandemic, which should continue to guide us as a united nation, as we fight this war. These pillars are:
- Public health responses: public health prevention, preparing health facilities for treatment, getting necessary equipment for treatment, ensure other diseases not neglected, and build National Health Insurance (NHI) capacity
- Social relief: deal with hunger, food parcels/vouchers, expand social grants, access to water, mental health, solidarity
- Assist SMMEs, workers and informal sector: expanded Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), relief for informal sector
- Stimulate supply and demand: bridging funding and rescue to businesses
- Economy reconstruction: industry master plans, domestic investment, macroeconomic policy alignment, as per ANCs 2019 Manifesto and new opportunities
- Build strategic state strategic capacity and contract between the state and the people
- Social mobilisation: to build community resilience and solidarity.
- African agenda and global issues
Working with government and other social partners, the Alliance has committed to forming part of all these pillars, to ensure effective reach and implementation of all the above. It recognises that this calls for maximum unity. This is not the time for factionalism, for corruption or for racketeering. It is the time to unite, to fight this war, rebuild our country, advance development and an inclusive growth path. It is a time for South Africa to continue to unite and broaden its national unity.
The Framework paper finally calls for the urgent development of a Covid-19 Reconstruction, Development and Inclusive Growth Plan that can form the basis of a social compact for as we come out of lockdown. The paper points to some of the elements of such a Plan, including speeding up the implementation of the NHI; that we bring back and investigate the feasibility of a minimum income support grant; focus on domestic resource mobilisation through amongst others impact investments (“prescribed assets”); financial sector transformation, and expedite plans for industrialisation and localisation, including in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, the green economy, agriculture and agro-processing, beneficiation and the creative and other sectors.
The Alliance formations, such as the ANC Economic Transformation Committee, the SACP Politburo and Cosatu are working on their individual contributions to the Covid-19 Reconstruction, Development and Inclusive Growth Plans. The Alliance will consolidate the outcomes and give content to the new economy and broader social transformation required going forward.
The large-scale opening up under Covid-19 lockdown alert level 3 places challenges and opportunities to us, to make up lost ground to get economic and other activities back on track, albeit in a cautious manner. At the same time, it has great potential to increase the spread of infections, especially as we now approach the flu season, as schools and businesses start opening, as more people start using public transport. The fundamental right to life remains sacrosanct.
We must therefore, as President Cyril Ramaphosa reminded us, ensure that we all act responsibly, as government, as parents, as businesses, as workers, as public servants and representatives, and as communities and citizens of our nation. It is in our hands.
We will discuss and act on these matters at all levels of the Alliance, and look forward to public engagement and engagement with civil society on this Framework paper.
LAUNCH OF ALLIANCE ANTI-RACISM CAMPAIGN
At a time when global humanity is engaged in this war against the Coronavirus, we saw the heinous murder of George Floyd by those who are tasked to serve and protect. This sparked protests across the USA by the African-American and other progressive communities, against this latest expression of institutional racism, which started with the extermination of Native Americans, the Transatlantic Slave Trade and Slavery.
Across the world, progressive humanity has responded to this, and are pledging solidarity in different ways, against racism. These protests and acts of solidarity not only points fingers to the USA for its continued institutionalised racism, echoing the call that Black Lives Matter, but also provides opportunities for tackling racism wherever it rears its ugly head, from India, Brazil, China to the USA, in Britain and Europe, the Middle East and Palestine.
South Africa is standing up to be counted. The USA, and its African-American community in particular, has played a critical role against our own struggle against the institutionalised racism of apartheid. Today, we must as a nation add our voices in solidarity to their call: That Black Lives Matter.
The Alliance, starting tomorrow, Friday 5 June 2020 at 19:00 through an event to be addressed by ANC President Ramaphosa and other Alliance leaders, will launch its campaign of solidarity with the peoples of the USA. It will be the start of our Black Fridays, where henceforth we all are called upon to wear black on this day of the week.
The Alliance Anti-Racism campaign, to be launched tomorrow, will also highlight the racism in our own society and against police and security force brutality. The deaths by citizens at the hands of security forces are of deep concern to the Alliance. Security forces, as set out in our Constitution must secure the safety of communities and act against crime. They must be tough, but act in the spirit of the Constitution.
The Alliance also notes that the demon of racism remains a blight on the soul of our nation. It reflects itself in institutionalised racism in apartheid geography, in the economy and in social spheres. It also finds expression in the kind of blatant racism and misogyny in social media, that we’ve seen against Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, cde Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma. As a society, this must not be tolerated, and we will and must use the institutions set up to bring the perpetrators to book.
On the 26th of this month we celebrate 65 years since the adoption of the Freedom Charter, who so eloquently told us “that South Africa belongs to all, black and white”, that all lives matter.
We therefore call on all South Africans to join us on this campaign to educate, advocate and rally against the demon of racism.
ON SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS
The Alliance welcomes progress to ensure that South African Airways (SAA) is restructured and to emerge out of the old with a new, viable and growing national airline. In line with the commitment made in the Budget Speech in February 2020, government should act unambiguously and support the restructuring and building of this new national airline.
The Alliance Secretariat further resolved that everything possible must be done to urgently restore SAA operations, in line with the national coronavirus lockdown regulations and the resumption of activity in the domestic aviation industry.
CONCLUSION
Our nation has overcome great adversities, and we can again overcome. We must work together to do this, and all take responsibility for our own actions, to care for others and to build our society. It is in our Hands.
Issued by the Alliance Secretariat:
ANC Secretary General, ES Magashule
SACP First Deputy General Secretary, Solly Mapaila
Cosatu General Secretary, Bheki Ntshalintshali
For enquiries
Pule Mabe (ANC)
Alex Mashilo (SACP)
Sizwe Pamla (COSATU)
