A policy on vaccine mandates for certain locations and activities must be finalised, the ruling party stated.
“The success of our economic recovery hinges in great part on our capacity to successfully handle Covid-19,” ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa said Saturday in Polokwane, northern South Africa, marking the party's 110th anniversary.
Virus-related lockdowns stopped businesses, slowed trade, and drained tax revenue in 2020, Africa's most industrialised economy.
As of December, just around 45 percent of people had received Covid-19 booster doses.
monetary aid
During the pandemic, the government started providing unemployment benefits.
In one of the world's most unequal societies, ANC ministers and scholars advocate a permanent basic income guarantee. The main issue is funding it within a strained national budget.
Ramaphosa said there is a clear need for affordable and sustainable income support for the unemployed and disadvantaged.
The finance minister, Enoch Godongwana, is gradually losing his hair due to the stress of the situation. “This is a major challenge for which we must find resources,” he remarked.
The ANC, Africa's oldest political force, has dominated since South Africa's first multiracial elections in 1994.
Its popularity fell below 50% in a municipal ballot two months ago, a result of perceived poor town management, high poverty, and joblessness.
The ANC was also criticized in a report released this week by a court panel investigating graft under former President Jacob Zuma.
Zuma and other top officials were discovered to be part of a coordinated attempt to steal public cash, while the party benefited from corrupt agreements.
Ramaphosa reaffirmed that party members accused with major charges such as corruption must immediately resign from all ANC and government leadership posts awaiting resolution of their cases. Those who refuse to step down risk suspension.
apprehension
Insecurity is also rising. Zuma's detention for refusing to testify in the bribery probe sparked July rioting that killed 354 people. Last week, a fire damaged the country's parliament, and a courthouse in Johannesburg was vandalized. Each instance resulted in a man's arrest.
Progress gained since 1994 is endangered by a determined campaign to dismantle democratic institutions, erode constitutional ideals, and reverse social and economic gains, Ramaphosa stated.
Ramaphosa, who succeeded Zuma as ANC leader in 2017 after campaigning on an anti-corruption platform, would likely seek reelection at the party's December conference.
-businesstech
