With the number of positive cases being reported increases at a vast rate, President Cyril Ramaphosa once again addressed the nation, on 23 March 2020, to advise on the protocol that the country would need to follow to ensure that we disrupt the chain of transmission and prevent the spread of the virus and the lives of South Africans.
Ramaphosa has confirmed that the country will be placed on a 21-day lockdown in an effort to control the spread of the virus, with essential personnel and medical practitioners being exempted from the lockdown. While other citizens are restricted to only leaving their homes to go to pharmacies, banks, supermarkets, petrol stations as well as healthcare providers.
Ramaphosa also mentioned that “The action we are taking now will have lasting economic costs. But we are convinced that the cost of not acting now would be far greater.”
To mitigate the impact the virus will have on the economy, the government has set up a Solidarity Fund, which will pool funds from government, business and private individuals. These funds will be used to combat the spread of the virus, help track the virus and care for those who are ill and support lives that are disrupted during this period.
What is SweepSouth Doing:
From Friday, 27 March 2020, SweepStars will no longer be going to bookings. We have communicated this to all SweepStars through our communication platforms to ensure they understand the reasoning behind the lockdown and why they should not be attending bookings from Friday onwards. To combat the fact that SweepStars are now faced with the impact of no work and pay, we have put measures in place to assist SweepStars as best we can:
- SweepStar Fund: We’re spearheading a partnership between ourselves, private and governmental institutions to jointly contribute towards a pool of funds that will be made available to SweepStars who have been affected by COVID-19.
- Client Pausing Bookings Contributions: Clients have been encouraged to pause their bookings for the next three weeks. When going through this process, clients are given the following options when putting a single or recurring booking on hold:
- Pay R150 per week (for 3 weeks) or once off to your SweepStar
- Pay R300 per week (for 3 weeks) or once-off to your SweepStar
- Temporarily cancel the appointment(s) over the next 3 weeks without contributing
This way clients are still able to assist their SweepStars during this trying time.
Further to this, we are working on putting together a crowdfund, where people will be able to donate any amount that they wish to. These funds will be for the SweepStars to assist them during this time. We will be sure to keep you updated on this through our social media platforms, so please keep an eye out for it.
We continuously want to ensure that SweepStars are not negatively impacted by the virus and the repercussions thereof. We will continue to update you on any developments in this regard.
