Most informal traders and day-job seekers do not have any form of savings or medical insurance. Millions of people will not have the necessary funds to be able to buy food to survive. As more people have less access to food, this will increase the incidence of ill-health. As more people become ill, this places even further strain on an already overburdened health system, it will create the perfect storm for a social, political and economic crisis. The long-term effects will see large-scale job losses as a result of poor / negative economic growth. The government’s stimulus package efforts will not be enough to soften the blow.

Vulnerable people already feel invisible, neglected, forgotten, and hopeless. We need to do all that we can to support the efforts of government, business and civil society ngo’s to provide ensure the most basic requirement, food security.