Andile Zingitwa
Informed by an unprecedented economic downgrade of South Africa to junk status by Moodys a fortnight ago, one finds it somewhat inconsiderate by the herein mentioned institution in the midst of a quagmire of the new corona virus pandemic.
Indeed, it is incumbent upon the economic watchdogs to keep abreast with global trade relations but the timing was currently way off the rail.
It is against this background I would rather focus on the immediate do’s to arrest the decline of case fatality rates, morbidity and overall infections brought about by this predicament.
Any man who wears his spectacles of gumption knows and understands that an economy that is at health risk is as good as useless, testimonial to this is the uncertainty seen in first world countries such as USA, China and France to name but a few, thus, the least that Moodys could do for now is to rally the world for expeditious efforts to curb this scourge than ventilating a politico- economic warfare against Africa.
Having alluded to the reality that our government has done well so far to try and flatten the curve, it is equally important to us as members of society to educate each other around this struggle, particularly those that are in rural areas that are in the periphery where information may not be as prevalent as in urban areas. This is the whole rationale behind community media as it has the power to gravitate towards the poorest of the poor where there are inadequate resources to expedite this desire. After ticking all the right boxes in this endeavour, we shall then be able to come out strongly as a nation and face whatever challenges put before us by any rating agency under the sun, but before then, first things first.
I SUBMIT
Zingitwa is a Pharmacist. He writes in his personal capacity.
