President Cyril Ramaphosa says government will not be able to indefinitely sustain relief measures introduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The measures include the COVID-TERS benefit which has now been extended to mid-March for all sectors that have not been able to fully operate as well as the special COVID-19 grant which has been extended for another three months.
"The social and economic relief package that we introduced in April last year is the largest intervention of its kind in our history." #SONA2021 #MySONA #GrowSouthAfrica pic.twitter.com/JAHooI80hS
— Presidency | South Africa 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) February 11, 2021
Ramaphosa has just released his weekly letter.
The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected the public health and the livelihoods of many South Africans with millions of them losing their jobs. And to cushion them from the devastating impact, government had introduced among others the special COVID-19 social grant and the UIF’s COVID-19 Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme only known as Covid-TERS.
But President Ramaphosa has warned that these relief measures are unsustainable with the country’s national debt sky-rocketing.
He said these measures only provide a firm foundation for recovery insisting that companies will need to come up with innovative ways to retain jobs and ensure their sustainability and profitability.
From The Desk of The President – Monday, 15 February 2021 – https://t.co/eNPUnMtfAM It will soon be a year since the first reported case of coronavirus in our country. The pandemic has come at a great cost to both public health and the livelihoods of millions of our people. pic.twitter.com/fUUv6bhPya
— Presidency | South Africa ?? (@PresidencyZA) February 15, 2021
