‘Can’t let our guard down yet on Covid-19’, Mabuza warns

Deputy President David Mabuza has warned that Covid-19 remains a death sentence, even though the country has seen a gradual downturn in the number of new daily cases and daily death figures.

He was speaking in Mpumalanga on Friday in his capacity as chair of the inter-ministerial committee on Covid-19 vaccines.

“[We] need to acknowledge that Covid-19 will continue to be with us for the foreseeable future,” he said.

“The fight against Covid is not over. The threats for the resurgence of infections always loom large, as has been seen across the world.

“This is not the time to be triumphalist, complacent and drop our guard. We need to find ways to adapt and live alongside this virus in our communities, workplaces, health facilities and schools.”

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Mabuza said the recovery from the devastation of the pandemic on the South African economy would require “significant contributions by the private sector”.

“While significant progress has been made in the fight against Covid, the aftermath of the devastation and negative impacts have been felt across various sectors of society,” he said.

“Here at home, our prospects for economic growth and employment creation were thwarted by recurring waves of Covid and its variants.

“Livelihoods were decimated across various sectors. Therefore, one of the seminal tasks in our Covid response is economic reconstruction and recovery.

“We have to rebuild the economy, create employment opportunities and ensure livelihoods are improved and sustained.

“We have to ensure that corporate players … continue to expand local investments, access to skills development opportunities, and support to small businesses through deliberate participation in local and global supply value chains.”

Mabuza said the education sector, in particular, had felt the full impact of the pandemic, with losses felt in teaching and learning times and rotational learning causing “disruptions” in the lives of pupils.

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He praised pupils, teachers and parents for “staying this difficult course. Despite these setbacks, we are still standing”.

As online learning became more a norm, government had committed to equalising “uneven access to technology platforms” for those in rural schools.

“Government will continue to intervene and invest in schools, so that schools and poor households are connected in order to have access to latest learning platforms and technologies.

“[Investment] in information technologies and connectivity infrastructure in schools and rural communities will ensure that our [pupils] are prepared for the ‘new world of work’.”