Dear CEO Members

 

Since the President of South Africa announced the national lockdown on 23 March 2020, CEO has been flooded by members’ queries; is my business an essential service?; and do I need to close down?  We have seen that there is a lot of false and inaccurate information on various social media platforms from unreliable sources.  We at CEO seek to keep our members informed on the facts and the implications of the National Lockdown; we will keep our members up to date, as the news becomes available, from reliable sources.

 

BUSINESS FUNDING – AN IDC / DTI PACKAGE

At a media briefing on 24 March 2020, by the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Ebrahim Patel, it was stated that as per the President’s announcement, the Industrial Development Corporation  (IDC) has put a package together with the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTI) of more than R3 billion for industrial funding to address the situation of vulnerable firms and to fast-track financing for companies critical to the efforts fighting the COVID-19 virus and its economic impact.  This facility will be available to South African owned businesses.

 

The nation-wide lockdown will be enacted from midnight Thursday, 26 March 2020, until midnight Thursday, 16 April 2020, all South Africans will have to stay at home.

 

As already communicated, herewith the categories of essential staff who will be exempted from this lockdown:

  • those responsible for essential care of the elderly and sick persons, including home-care and old-age homes;
  • essential private security services for the protection of property and persons;
  • All essential back-office services to enable salary and human resource departments to work, so as to ensure smooth management of wage and salary payments;
  • essential animal welfare and emergency veterinary services;
  • those who assist in transporting food and other essentials to people’s homes including on-line retail, as well as transport systems that support any of the essential services;
  • key maintenance systems required at workplaces to avoid serious damage to economic assets, where the interruption of that service will destroy critical working areas, factories or machinery;
  • Members of Parliament, Provincial legislatures, Municipal councils and their core staff, as well as government departments and public entities’ staff responsible to assist with implementation of the measures announced by the President,  as they will all need to be working to make the country safe;
  • members of the media and broadcasting services, who will serve as a vital communication between ourselves and the public;
  • Transportation of fuel, food and basic goods supply trucks between SADC countries.

 

Please click here for the official published list of essential personnel.

 

We at CEO will keep our members abreast on any new developments herein.  For any enquiries, please contact our office at (012) 880 0294 and/or e-mail us at cb@ceosa.org.za

 

National Collective Bargaining Team