Economic Recovery from July's Civil Unrest May Take Up to 2 Years

• It may take up to two years to economically recover from the violence, looting and unrest that occurred in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal in July
• The news comes from National Treasury, which recently briefed Parliament on the impact the civil unrest had on the country's economy
• There are a number of businesses - small, micro and medium - that have either closed down temporarily to rebuild or have shut down completely

The economic downfall from July's riots and looting in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal may take up to two years to recover from. This is according to National Treasury officials who were briefing Parliament's select committee on finance on the impact on the economy of the unrest.

The riots sparked after the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma. Zuma was jailed for being in contempt of court. According to EWN, Treasury stated that there could be a drop of between 0.7% and 0.9% in the country's GDP due to the unrest.

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Duncan Pieterse, a Treasury official, spoke about a number of findings and literature that propose that the impact of the unrest could be a shock to the economy that may be felt for up to 18 months or longer.

Pieterse revealed that the Beyond Covid Research Initiative stated that micro, small and medium enterprises count for about 89% of businesses that were impacted by the violence and looting. Around 6% have reopened, 51% have closed and 7% of the aforementioned will not reopen.

The report stated that 44% of the businesses mentioned said they are closed for the time being.

National Treasury, according to News24, stated that the rand had been on the increase since June but due to the riots, between 9 and 19 July of this year, the rand depreciated by a massive 2.4% against the US dollar.

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Monday morning protests in KZN reportedly thwarted: #NationalShutdown

Previously, Briefly News reported that authorities scattered a number of protestors in Durban on Monday, 23 August. Reports revealed that a group had set debris alight and scattered it along the main motorway of Umgeni Road in the city.

The demonstrators blocked roads with the debris and tyres in the early hours of the morning. The South African Police Service (SAPS) and Community Policing Forum (CPF) patrol members dispersed the protestors before things got worse.

Dianne Kohler-Barnard, Democratic Alliance's Shadow Security Minister, confirmed that a vehicle was burnt and proceeded to slam the SAPS for their alleged slow response, according to The South African.

Source: Briefly News