• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Friday, May 30, 2025
Reporting South Africa Reporting South Africa
Reporting South Africa Reporting South Africa
  • Featured News
  • Nation
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Environment
    • Education
  • Art & Culture
    • Food
    • Art
    • Music
    • Fashion
  • Religion
  • Health & Science
    • Public Health
  • Our Student Journalists
    • Spring 2020
      • Ainsley Ash
      • Ayinde Summey
      • Elizabeth Stricklin
      • Laura Peterjohn
      • Renny Simone
      • Skylar Thoma
    • Fall 2019
      • Maggie Connolly
      • Kimberly Wipfler
      • Jamaica Ponder
      • Claudia Stagoff-Belfort
    • Spring 2019
      • Desi LaPoole
      • Kamal Morgan
      • Luke Riley
    • Fall 2018
      • Corey D. Smith
      • Francine Barchett
      • Natalie Elliott
      • Saam Niami Jalinous
    • Spring 2018
      • Kamilah Tom
      • Rebecca Redelmeier
      • Serena Hawkey
        • How circus school saved me from drugs and gangs
      • Hannah Green
      • Madeline Harvey
      • Jacqueline Flynn
    • Fall 2017
      • Mandela Namaste
      • Olivia Decelles
      • Samuel Gohn
      • Aisha Hauser
      • Samantha Tafoya
    • Spring 2017
      • Emily Rizzo
      • Arin Kerstein
      • Alexa Cole
      • Sealy McMurrey
  • Alumni

Coronavirus

Coronavirus: A Pandemic of Unemployment

April 3, 2020 By Laura Peterjohn

As nations around the globe are placed in lock down, enforcing polices of social distancing and government “stay at home” orders to slow the spread of COVID-19, millions of businesses are being deemed ”non-essential to daily life” forcing their doors to close.

This has prompted the layoff of millions of workers, who are seeing their jobs all but vanish overnight. With many countries extending their restrictions beyond the initial date, more and more people are facing the new reality of unemployment. 

In the United States 6.6 million Americans filed for unemployment in the last week, with New York Times reporting that 10 million jobs have vanished in the last two weeks. This leaves the US unemployment rate at around 15%, a rate that is three times higher than during the 2008 recession, and a rate that hasn’t been seen in the country since the stock market crash and the great depression that followed it in 1929.

There are predictions that the worst is yet to come. Economists at the University of Oxford suggest the United States could see 20 million more jobs lost, pushing the unemployment rate to 35% – a rate the nation has never seen before, reports the country’s National Public Radio. 

In Germany, finance minister of the Hesse region, Thomas Schaefer, committed suicide, reportedly after being deeply worried about the economic effects the virus would have on the global economy. 

The New York Times reports that in Spain, 800,000 Spanish workers lost their jobs in March, pushing unemployment rates to 14%. Despite strict orders from the government for citizens to remain in their homes, hundreds of people have been lining up outside social security offices daily in attempts to collect unemployment benefits.

The BBC reports that British Airways is in talks to suspend 32,000 members of its staff, and the American-based airplane manufacturer Boeing has announced its own layoffs after a large number of countries issued travel bans, greatly decreasing demand.

Economy

SA Government Reassures Public About Cell Phone Tracking

April 3, 2020 By Skylar Thoma

Minister of Communications Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams addresses the press conference on cell phone tracking Thursday. (Skylar Thoma)

The South African government moved to reassure its citizens yesterday that cellphone tracking efforts will only be used on people who have tested positive for coronavirus and have not gone into quarantine.

At a media briefing of the Coronavirus National Command Council on Thursday, Ministers clarified regulations surrounding the nationwide lockdown. Minister of Communications Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams addressed public uncertainty about how the tracking measures would be used.

“This is not spying on anyone,” she said.

Minister of Justice Ronald Lamola further reassured citizens that the information will only be used by the Department of Health, and a judge will be appointed to oversee the use of data.

When a person is tested for coronavirus, Ndabeni-Abrahans said, health officials record their personal information, including their address and mobile phone number. If the test results come back positive, the Department of Health will be able to ask cellphone carriers for a history of the person’s location. The government will then be able to track down the person in question and identify others who may have been in contact with them.

The tracking services are a key part of the government’s effort to enforce self-isolation of coronavirus carriers, in particular those who do not go into quarantine. Over the weekend, a man was arrested after he had travelled from Gauteng to Limpopo, despite having received positive test results.

GTP FPU Collaborative Ops with JMPD on the N1 today.

3rd consecutive day on the N1 for GTP FPU checkpoint.#LockdownSA#StopTheSpreadOfCorona #StayAtHomeSa @David_Makhura @GautengProvince@GP_CommSafety @FaithMazibukoSA pic.twitter.com/Znw6ehRMJb

— GTP Gauteng Traffic Police (@GTP_Traffstats) April 3, 2020

Minister of Police Bheki Cele told the press conference that 2289 people had been arrested since the start of the lockdown for disobeying the emergency regulations. Almost 24,500 members of the police force, the army, and metro police forces had been deployed for enforcement. He implored citizens to obey regulations “so that we are not forced to enforce the law”.

Cele also criticised provincial governments that are publishing their own interpretation of the national regulations. Regulations published by the Western Cape government on Wednesday suggested that the sale of tobacco products would be allowed as long as they were purchased alongside essential products.

“What is done in Limpopo is expected to be done in Western Cape,” he said. “For now, cigarettes are not sold”.

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde today told Eyewitness News that he had spoken to the President about different interpretations to the regulations, including on cigarettes, and had asked for more clarity. He expected the matter to be considered at the next Co- Ordinating Council meeting.

Another member of the task force, Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, clarified that spaza shops should be allowed to stay open. She also announced that informal food traders in the townships will be permitted to trade so long as they get a permit from their local authority. The announcement comes as a relief to traders and the customers who rely on their merchandise. 

Dlamini-Zuma was asked by a reporter to confirm or deny rumours of plans to extend the lockdown in South Africa. She said that no such decision had been made, but “nothing is cast in stone”.

Featured

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Page 2
  • Page 3

Primary Sidebar

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Photo of the Day, 14 February 2020

The Mzamba bridge hangs across Mzamba river in the Eastern Cape. Completed in 2015, the … [Read More...] about Photo of the Day, 14 February 2020

Photo of the Day, 13 February 2020

This painting of a black woman in an upscale restaurant in Durban's Florida Rd shows the stark … [Read More...] about Photo of the Day, 13 February 2020

Photo of the Day, 13 February 2020

An inspirational poster of Nelson Mandela sits alongside two Bibles in the entrance of the iCare … [Read More...] about Photo of the Day, 13 February 2020

Photo of the Day, 12 February 2020

A pile of quarried lime in one of multiple informal markets located at Warwick Junction, Durban, … [Read More...] about Photo of the Day, 12 February 2020

Photo of the Day, 11 February 2020

Buses arrive at the transportation port near Warwick Juncture. Commuters arriving at this bus and … [Read More...] about Photo of the Day, 11 February 2020

Photo of the Day, 10 February 2020

Traders have their wares on display at the Warwick Junction Markets. With thousands of informal … [Read More...] about Photo of the Day, 10 February 2020

The Program

Reporting South Africa is produced by US college and university students on an SIT Study Abroad program called “South Africa: Social and Political Transformation”. They are mentored by veteran journalists in a program applying technology and global consciousness to produce high-impact journalism on vital social issues.

Reporting South Africa strives to be a reliable resource for news and information about South Africa.

Learn More

SIT Logo

A pioneer in experiential, field-based study abroad, SIT (founded as the School for International Training) provides more than 60 semester and summer programs for undergraduate students in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East, as well as comparative programs in multiple locations.

South Africa: Social and Political Transformation is a program of SIT Study Abroad.

FOLLOW REPORTING SOUTH AFRICA

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • The World Learning Inc. Family:
  • experiment.org
  • https://studyabroad.sit.edu
  • worldlearning.org

Footer

  • Academics
  • Admissions
  • Apply
  • Alumni
  • Alumni Connect
  • Give
  • Media Center
  • Request Info
  • SIT Stories
  • School for International Training

    1 Kipling Road • Brattleboro, VT 05302 • 802 257-7751 • 800 257-7751 (toll-free in the US)
    SIT is a private nonprofit institution of higher education.

  • Explore SIT Graduate Institute

    © Copyright World Learning, Inc.