With South Africa's national lockdown having been extended by a further two weeks, the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) has suggested “a staggered return to business", starting with industries that can demonstrate high levels of physical distancing and health control, like the fast food outlets (FFOs) industry.

The chamber reiterates the difficult financial position South Africa already finds itself in.

It comments that South Africa had entered a technical recession before the start of the Covid-19 health pandemic, the same period in which the country had also been downgraded to junk by the ratings agencies.

“Even without this pandemic, our economy would have faced significant problems in the areas of macroeconomic performance and prospects, with negative gross domestic product (GDP) growth, a worsening exchange rate, adverse rising inflation and interest rates, plus a potential exploding unemployment crisis that can trigger social and political instability.”

According to the chamber, the lockdown is also going to have a negative effect on South Africa’s public finances and external finances that were constrained to start with, given both the country’s high debt-to-GDP ratio, and the downgrade that will put further strain on public purses with liquidity and debt repayment obligations, on top of the difficulties in raising further external financing.

As such, Sacci believes FFOs are a “good, responsible choice” to slowly bring back business with an important food offering that services most South Africans. Additionally, the majority of FFOs fall in the category of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Allowing them to return to work under strict conditions, releases the pressure on the SME relief support measures and the available Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) funds, it states.

It adds that the relief measures currently in play “will not be adequate” to stem the downward tide, as the cash is likely to burn out in a matter of weeks, which Sacci laments “cannot be a sustainable strategy”.

As such, enabling the return and on-boarding of the FFOs will release pressure on the announced, but limited support interventions.

The FFOs employ more than 150 000 people and support a significant portion of the South African economy in their value chains. Following the lockdown, some of these businesses are likely to close down and there will be major job losses as a result, the chamber adds.

However, it says the process must be “phased and controlled” to ensure the return to work is not counterproductive to the objectives of controlling the pandemic.

“We believe the mitigation measures that have been proposed and the fast food industry is prepared to work with, are more than adequate.

This FFO sector is expected to provide a template, and experience, on how to eventually return other sectors to business.

To protect the South African economy from a total collapse, the chamber encourages government and South Africa “to look beyond the lockdown as the only option”, to a strategy on how to “live” safely with the virus, over an extended period.

The chamber points out that the FFO industry already operates with high health and safety standards, which can be adapted to meet Covid-19 pandemic health risk mitigation conditions.

These measures include staff being appropriately and consistently tested for health and Covid-19 infections, as well as all staffbeing provided with the relevant personal protective equipment where applicable (such as masks) and the outlets to maintain the highest of standards of hygiene.

Additionally, Sacci says the industry should make suitable arrangements for the transportation of staff to and from work, and ensure that the chosen mode of transport meets the highest of health standards.

FFOs should only be allowed to provide take-away services through delivery or call-and-collect options, with strict physical distancing measures to be met.

No sit downs should be permitted.