Premier Alan Winde says Capetonians should “get out there and support small businesses” to help stimulate the economy.
The Western Cape government will be holding special cabinet meetings to “focus on fighting the second pandemic of unemployment, hunger and poverty”.
Highlighting that “small businesses are the engines of our economy, employing tens of thousands of breadwinners across the province”, Winde said yesterday they needed the provincial government’s support to stay open.
“Yesterday, I walked around the CBD of Cape Town and saw too many ‘To Let’ signs displayed on windows.
“Every sign was indicative of jobs that had been lost, as these businesses closed. We have to reverse this trend if we are to get our economy going again,’’ Winde said.
He said his government will be holding weekly meetings to find solutions.
“Following our first successful cabinet bosberaad two weeks ago, we have called a further bosberaad for the end of the month, where we will continue to work towards our province’s recovery plan, which aims to get the Western Cape back on track as soon as possible.”
“With the move to alert Level 2, which allows for more economic activity, I want to encourage our residents to support local and small businesses.
“We should get out now, in line with restrictions and abiding by the golden rules, to support our fellow community members.”
On Thursday, the province had 101 823 Covid-19 cases and 92 892 recoveries.
A total of 3682 people have lost their lives to the Coronavirus.