With public finances under extreme strain because of the cost of the country’s health response to Coronavirus and the social and economic relief measures put in place to assist businesses and poor households, President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on citizens to be innovative and focused in their plans to rebuild the economy. In his first letter to the nation for 2021, Ramaphosa said on Monday that while most economic sectors have been able to operate again for several months, it will take some time for the economy to recover and for lost jobs to be restored. This was owing to general lower global demand and restrictions on international travel. Government will soon be rolling out a mass vaccination campaign to reduce the risk of infection across the population.
