“The storm is upon us,” says South African president Cyril Ramaphosa. Already in recession before the pandemic hit, South Africa has been the fifth-worst hit country in the world measured by the number of coronavirus cases. Last week the International Monetary Fund approved an emergency $4.3bn loan to Pretoria, its biggest pandemic-related disbursement yet.
South Africa’s prompt April lockdown ushered in a period of “Ramaphoria”, says Ivan Fallon in The Times, but there is “widespread disillusion” as a worsening situation has forced new curbs. The first confinement proved economically ruinous, with three million job losses, thanks in part to the closure of the tourism industry, the economy’s biggest employer. The economy is forecast to contract by 12% this year. To top it all, new problems at electricity monopoly Eskom have brought yet more power cuts.
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Dodging the fallout
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