Lockdown Extension Was Unavoidable - Business Leaders

Business leaders have embraced the extension fo the 21-day national lockdown with another 14 days, saying it wouldn’t have made sense to open up the country when most of the raw materials required in manufacturing are imported from South Africa, which is also under lockdown.

Confederation of Zimbabwe (CZI) vice national president, Joseph Gunda had this to say:

By extending the national lockdown by another 14 days the President and his Cabinet are spot-on because it is a fact that the country should accept on account of the continued rise in the number of COVID-19 cases.

… what good will the lifting of the lockdown at the moment bring to the country economically, because most of the raw materials used in the manufacturing of goods by local companies come from South Africa and is on lockdown.

Association for Business in Zimbabwe chief executive officer Victor Nyoni said the extension was “unavoidable” since some regional countries had already done so. Said Nyoni:

We also think the extension was unavoidable given that our neighbours (South Africa) had already done the same.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Sunday extended the lockdown by two weeks as part of the government’s broad response to the rising number of coronavirus cases.

This means that Zimbabwe will be under lockdown for five weeks from March 30 to May 3.

More: Chronicle