Black Business Council Backs Government’s Plans To Downgrade To Lockdown Level 3

A number of civil society organisations and businesses on Thursday said that all indications were that the COVID-19 National Command Council would get the thumbs up over whether to downgrade the lockdown level to three.

The Black Business Council (BBC) was the latest organisation to back the move, saying that it hoped the entire economy would be reopened soon.

Businesses and other societal activities were forced to shut down seven weeks ago when the government enforced a nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Labour, civil society organisations and the business community have thrown their weight behind the government’s suggestion that more sectors of the economy should be reopened next month.

BBC president Sandile Zungu said that they were, however, not oblivious to the serious public health issues.

“And that we are in the middle of a pandemic [and] saving people’s lives remains of great importance to us,” Zungu said.

Despite the criticism that was unleashed on President Cyril Ramaphosa after his address on Wednesday night, Zungu said the BBC understood the pressures that he was facing.

“We are very empathetic to the situation, but we will urge him to be considerate in terms of lifting the lockdown.”

The country is facing an economic recession, poverty problems and an unemployment rate which is feared to increase significantly as a result of the pandemic.

EWN