This has become very evident, looking at how Zoom and Teams virtual meetings have spread like wildfire and how working from home has suddenly become the norm...
From a South African perspective, it is difficult to discuss Covid without talking about the financial impact it has had on South Africa. The debate about loss of life versus the state of the economy, is not a debate in which there can be a winner. However, it is true that the pandemic could not have come at a worse time for South Africa.
The picture painted by Mr Tito Mboweni (Minister of Finance) during his mid-term budget, was scary. South Africans are over-indebted and the confidence of tax payers in the sensible application of funds by government, is decreasing at a rapid rate. South Africa's debt burden is a headache which will not go away - government expenditure is too high, hopelessly too high, and the proposed freezing of salaries and wages was met with a cold silence. Difficult discussions lie ahead for President Cyril Ramaphosa and Tito Mboweni as these matters progress. Zwelinzima Vavi (Secretary-General of SAFTU) has already indicated that workers are not prepared to pay for the poor management and fraud of government. Cosatu has also indicated that it is planning major strike actions should Mr Mboweni's wish be granted.
Political analysts are speculating on whether President Ramaphosa will have enough support within the ANC to carry through his reformation plans. Only time will tell.
The frustrating character of the Ramaphosa government is that as soon as one loses hope, a glimmer of good news comes through! It is a constant dance of two steps forward and two steps back. The recent arrest of the individuals who were involved in the VBS Bank-scandal, was silenced by the wave of farm murders, which the government was hardly willing to acknowledge. Andre de Ruyter's appointment at Eskom was a tactical masterpiece, but the inability of government to create a framework within which the private sector can generate growth, is evident from the unemployment figures. Two steps forward and two steps back.
As the saying goes: “Something’s got to give”. If we want to leave a better future for our descendants, drastic and difficult steps will have to be taken.
These things can easily turn your stomach into a knot. I ask myself - what can I change? What can I do to make South Africa a better country? We have wonderful people in this country! It remains one of the biggest privileges which God gave us - to stack a few pieces of wood and to have a braai. To be in the bushveld while the Christmas beetle sings in your ears. To drive through Stellenbosch and Franschoek and to feel as if you are in Europe. Or to drive across the Drakensberg to the green hills of KwaZulu-Natal. The cold sea of the West Coast and the cold wind in your face. The flat Free State, the red Northwest soil, the magic of the Tsitsikamma, the honesty of the Karoo and the grassy plains of Mpumalanga.
There is no other country like South Africa.