If you had asked me a year ago how I saw the outcome of 2020, I would have told you "Better than 2019." If we only knew then what we know now. This has been an unbelievable time to live in, almost Sci-fi like, only it isn't. This is no movie and this is no alternate reality created, this is our reality, right now, here.
I know there are a lot of opinions one could give about the current stand of circumstances and the seriousness of this pandemic and how our government has been implementing certain restrictions. But, one thing is constant and that is the nagging uncertainty. Will there be employment opportunities after this is all over? Will there be a total economic collapse? Can South Africa withstand the storm that the Lock down has caused? Everyday we hear stories of companies folding, employees being retrenched and the literal starving of those who lived pay check to pay check and day to day. The divide between rich and poor made evident, those who are essential and those who are not are now bonded into what our worth might be.
Work in a hospital? Worth = High. Work from home? Worth = High. Work in E-commerce? Worth = High. Work in Laboratories? Worth = High. Work in a restaurant? Worth = Zero. Work in a Hair Salon? Worth = Zero. A Domestic Worker? Worth = Zero.
The government with or without it's knowledge has now categorized us according to our worth. Rich & Poor(Middle Class) & the starving masses. Those who were just barely getting by are now starving, those who were just escaping financial despair were thrown into bankruptcy and into worse positions than they were before. We might say it's the pandemic, we might say look at the amount of the infected but I say to you, do your research, the infection rate is 0.02% of the South African population which is less than death caused by the normal influenza that hits us EVERY winter. Ebola has a 100% kill rate and has more deaths recorded in a short span than COVID - 19. Better more South Africa's recovery rate for COVID 19 is 98%, the other two percent had underlying issues with their health before contracting the virus.
I'm growing tired of the Pandemic narrative and it's not only me. Sure certain people can afford to stay at but most can't. The media is guilty of spreading fear into people's homes and I wish those who are in a more privileged setting will stop lecturing those who do not earn to what they earn. Not everyone can shop at Woolworth's and have uncapped WiFi at home. Everywhere across the world people are showing their frustration to regulations that are in place. Spain, Thailand, Germany, America etc. have on - masse felt the restrictions were an infringement on their freedoms as human beings, in fact the WHO (World Health Organisation) has been recorded to say that South Africa has the strictest measures implemented during lock downs than ANY country in the World.
This is day 88 and the more time that passes the more chance of me having a job after this is over seems more and more minimal. I sit awake at night in terror and in pain that the cause of my circumstances were caused by harsh choices and implementation and a too late opening of the economy. I fear I will eventually be a part of the percentage that will either lose their jobs due to job cuts or due to collapse of the restaurant industry. The restaurant industry has been one of the most hardest hit industries and it's recovery has been estimated to take a minimum of two years and that excludes the amount of staff members that will never see their work place again. Unemployment which was at an all time low already has sky rocketed causing a massive gap between the Rich & poor and is a general cause of concern for most South Africans. What do you do when your employer no longer requires your services? What happens if you can no longer keep a roof over your head. Mr President I am asking you what do we do? I am asking you as someone who has been stuck at home for 88 days waiting for things to go back to normal, how will you respond when companies are unable to take back their employees? When companies change work contracts with a "Pandemic" clause in, how will you respond? TERS will not last forever.
Weather you like to admit it or not the work environment is about to change drastically and if you cannot adjust to it, who knows what will happen. How we interact with people will change, how we speak & act will change. How we maintain our own hygiene will come under scrutiny, it will be a method of judgement and categorization. I'm not entirely sure if separation was the best thing to do. In fact I'm not sure isolation is the best thing for us, I think the damage from the lock down will take a while to recover from in this country. People have lost a lot. Livelihoods have been lost and a unhappiness is settling in at the circumstances of the day.
I hope I am wrong. After all this is just one person's opinion.
Thank you to the front line worker's and the sacrifice you make everyday.
God Bless
T