President Cyril Ramaphosa continues to be lauded by different stakeholders for his decisive measures in his bid to curb the rising Coronavirus pandemic in the country. Amid the escalating rate of the virus in the country, Ramaphosa finally decided to shut down airports. He also issued travelling bans to high-risk countries such as China, Italy, the US, South Korea and the United Kingdom.
It is without a doubt that his decision will have a massive effect on the already limping economy in the coming days and months. Economists predict that the travel bans to the above-mentioned countries will further put the tourism sector under severe constraints which will further hit the economy hard.
While the President’s actions are rightly commended, one just wonders whether or not he should have acted a bit earlier. The number of Coronavirus cases continues to rise daily since the first case was recorded at the start of the month. The current statistics see the number sitting uncomfortably at 61.
While the country is yet to register its first fatality on this global respiratory virus, many believe it is just a matter of time. Since taking over office, Ramaphosa has been reactionary to the country’s social ills. In many cases, South Africans had to vent out their frustration on social media in order for the President to address the nation.
It had to take a hashtag, #LockDownSouthAfrica from South Africans for the President to announce the government’s measures to curb the virus and even that had to be a delayed announcement. South Africans are slowly becoming irritated with Ramaphosa’s reactionary attitude and the current crisis demands of him to really take the lead.
Yes, this crisis cannot be the sole responsibility of the government, it demands all hands on deck. However, the President and his executive need to be proactive and inspire confidence that they have everything under control. The Kenyan and Rwandan governments continue to provide a blueprint on how to deal with the crisis and Ramaphosa’s government needs to step up.
It is Ramaphosa’s task to directly tell ZCC head honchos, the Lekganyane brothers to postpone the much-awaited Easter weekend gatherings. The festivities in Moria attract millions of people and that automatically puts everyone under risk of being infected. Ramaphosa should lead the charge to tell these powerful brothers to cancel this year’s festivities.
