Business

5 important things happening in South Africa today

Staff Writer

 ·14 Apr 2020

Here’s what is happening in and affecting South Africa today:

Coronavirus: Global coronavirus cases have increased to 1,925,384, with just under 120,000 deaths recorded. 447,976 people have recovered from the virus but 1,357,690 cases remain active, where 51,157 are in serious or critical condition. In South Africa, there are 2,272 confirmed cases, with deaths at 27.

• What comes next: With South Africa’s lockdown extended for two more weeks, epidemiologist and infectious diseases specialist, professor Salim Abdool-Karim says that the country should prepare itself for possible extensions. The country is ramping up active testings to find hotspots for the outbreak locally, and is preparing for an exponential rise is in the number of cases. South Africa has bucked the global trend of mass infections so far, but will not be spared from. The lockdown just bought us some time, he said. [BusinessTech]

• Domestic workers in peril: Domestic workers are appealing to government for financial help, as the lockdown restrictions have prevented them from going to work and earning a living. The South African Domestic Service and Allied Workers Union has asked government to make money available from the Solidarity Fund to help them out. Groups like SweepSouth are trying to raise funds from donors and investors to help pay domestic workers. There are around 1 million domestic workers in South Africa. [EWN]

• Face masks: The Department of Health has recommended that people wear a cloth face mask consisting of at least 3 layers to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. While there is limited evidence that face masks help prevent transmission (and its use is an ongoing global debate), South Africa’s position is that there should be wider public use of them. However, it is important that masks be used in conjunction with all other protective measures, including washing of hands and social distancing. [Daily Maverick]

• Working from home: South Africans who have been forced to set up home offices to keep working from home will find little in the way of tax relief for incurring any costs in doing so, say legal experts. Current tax laws only make provision for relief for employees who spend 50% of their time working from home or away from their place of employment (over the course of a tax year) and get 50% of their income from variable sources, like commission. It may be better for employees to make reimbursement claims with their respective employers. [Moneyweb]

• Markets: Volatility in the rand endures as the Easter weekend comes to an end, following a retracement to R17.90 late last week. The oil price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia has come to an end, while the world is still concerned about the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak on economic growth, with many countries still enduring some form of lockdown. On Tuesday, the rand is at R18.00 to the dollar, R22.62 to the pound and R19.69 to the euro. [XE]