Six months of the year gone, and 6 months to December.
On 27 March we were told of a 21 day lockdown to stop the infection of which SA had identified just over 920 positive cases, we all counted the working days, checked the cash flow reserves (if there were any) did the numbers and made our decisions on both the companies and personnel's future. 21 nerve breaking days. Now we are 70 odd days into lockdown!
After 70 odd days of lockdown, many companies have serious business decisions to make.
We now have the High Court declaring the lockdown unconstitutional. This potentially has far reaching effects for companies that have suffered negatively under the unconstitutional lock down. We have seen the Tobacco Industry in court as well as the department of health. According to the Disaster Management Act (DMA) of 2002, a national state of disaster lapses three months after it has been declared. Let us see where that goes.
Today, we have more than 37 000 infections and more than 800 deaths due to COVID, so what we do know is infection identifications, and deaths are a reality in our country. I saw projections that between 5 and 8 million South Africans will become infected. This is more than a 4000% increase in infections since the end of March.
The biggest question you must ask is what are you going to do to stop from becoming infected or to stop from infecting someone else?
COVID has become an excuse by many, as an excuse to be lazy and to hide behind COVID, as an excuse not to return to work, or to enjoy the newfound freedom of working from home with little or no accountability. This is a challenge for companies that are struggling to survive. If you currently have a job, do everything in your power to add value and show your worth to keep your job.
If you are an employer, make sure you have an effective COVID back to work OHS plan to protect yourself and your employees. Remember what you personally did at the end of March do not slack off, tighten all controls. Make sure your HR COVID policies are in place to protect you, you now cannot afford CCMA Cases that could cost you more money.
Do not forget about your B-BBEE, without a valid BEE certificate you will fight over the scraps and be competing off the back foot. Be proactive. It is the one document that can assist you in tough times. We have seen the Government doing everything in their power to frustrate companies that do not have valid BEE certificates. We saw the courts agreeing with the Tourism Sector demanding BEE Certification before being granted financial assistance. Whether we agree or disagree with BEE, you will feel the pain of not having a certificate.
We at Compliance Hub, have also felt the pain over this lockdown period however have been fortunate to survive with no staff layoffs. We have also been very successful in helping many companies with their TERS allowances that have assisted them in surviving this period. We simply all must survive this period and come out stronger. Our philosophy or being able to assist with TERS / UIF? Paying it forward, when times are tough it is no longer about our income it's about being there for companies that need our help.
If I or any of my staff can assist you, please feel free to contact us and we will gladly assist.
We are stronger together than alone. If we all work together as a collective we will survive.
Kind regards
Hilton Johnson
CEO
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