Business For SA Daily Member Update | 13 April 2020

13 April 2020

SUPPORT THE “STAY HOME, SAVE SOUTH AFRICA” NATIONAL CAMPAIGN

A message from the Presidency:

We live in an unprecedented time for our country, as we stand together against a global pandemic that has destroyed the lives of tens of thousands of people worldwide.

Since the President declared a national lockdown from 26 March 2020, we have made significant progress towards containing the spread of the coronavirus. South Africans have come together across multiple divides, and have shown remarkable determination, patience and solidarity.

We are, however, only at the beginning of a long journey together. For us to succeed in our efforts and protect the lives of our fellow citizens, we will need all South Africans to comply with the restrictions and advice that we have put in place.

We have created a national campaign to encourage continued solidarity and collective action to fight the coronavirus, which we have begun to roll out across the country this week. The campaign encourages people to “Stay Home, Save South Africa,” and we hope that it will reach all of our people in their homes, through radio, television and print media, and in the stores and workplaces that they visit for essential purposes.

We need this campaign to be amplified widely, both to maintain national morale and to encourage South Africans to adhere to public health guidelines.

For this reason, we are calling on business, civil society and social partners to display the official campaign symbol in your stores and offices, to distribute it to your members, colleagues and employees, and to feature it in any advertising or additional campaigns that you create in the weeks and months to come.

We hope that it will become a shared national symbol that is seen everywhere, by everyone. We would be grateful for your help in making this possible, as a contribution to our collective effort.

STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE FOR THE IMPORT OF CONTAINERS AT

SOUTH AFRICAN TERMINALS

Aim: To facilitate the release of containers to importers at the lowest possible cost and minimum time delay.

This Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is designed to bring about certainty amongst importers by ensuring that all ocean carriers follow the same procedures laid down by the Government when processing import containers and to facilitate the release of containers to importers at the lowest possible cost and minimum time delay. It should be noted that these procedures are intended to be implemented only for the duration of the current COVID-19 State of Disaster.

To access the full document, please go to
Standard Operating Procedure for Import of Containers at SA Terminals

WHATSAPP BOT FOR SMME COVID-19 SUPPORT GOES LIVE

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CONTRIBUTE TO THE SOLIDARITY FUND

The purpose and mandate of the Solidarity Fund, announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa, is to mobilise and coordinate efforts and resources from all South Africans and the international community to assist the most vulnerable South Africans to deal with the impact of Covid19 and the consequences of measures intended to slow its rate of infection.

Details on how to donate are available on the Fund’s website www.solidarityfund.co.za

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

https://twitter.com/businessforsa

https://www.facebook.com/Business-for-SA-110191343959451/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/42899981/

OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS AND GUIDELINES ON COVID-19

All official government regulations and guidelines are available at https://www.gov.za/coronavirus/guidelines

OFFICIAL RESOURCES:

NICD website:                                     http://www.nicd.ac.za
COVID-19 information website:          https://sacoronavirus.co.za
Coronavirus 24-hour Hotline:             0800 029 999
Coronavirus WhatsApp:                      060 012 3456

Business for South Africa fully supports the decisive action taken by President Cyril Ramaphosa and the government to help mitigate the health, labour market and economic impacts of the coronavirus. As organised business, we are actively collaborating with government to use business resources and capacity to support public sector initiatives.

We have mobilised volunteer resources from across South Africa business bodies and organisations, member companies large and small, professional services firms as well as communication specialists, to form focused working groups that are driving a coordinated and proactive programme to mitigate the economic, social and health impacts of COVID-19 on South Africa.