- PSG CEO, Piet Mouton says the fatality rate of Covid-19 pales in comparison to other causes of death in SA, like road fatalities.
- If the economy is not fully opened immediately, more people will die because of hardships if the economy, he said.
- Mouton said if government really cared about people, it would have used the money that has been earmarked for revitalizing SAA to build more hospital beds.
The head of the Mouton family business, PSG has once again ripped into government’s decision to keep the lockdown in place saying more people will lose their lives because of lost livelihoods if the economy is not opened “immediately”.
Piet Mouton told shareholders during the company’s annual general meeting on Friday that he is of the view that South Africa should have never found itself in the current position where 3 million people have lost their jobs.
“I will reiterate that my heart goes out to all those who have lost friends, family, colleagues and loved ones as a result of Covid-19. However, I again would like to implore those who are in charge of South Africa that we open up the economy immediately,” he said.
Mouton said Covid-19’s fatality rate of 79 per 1 million people paled in comparison to SA’s annual fatality rate of 9 500 per 1 million people. He said the approximately 14 000 road fatalities in this country every year posed much greater risk to life but the economy was never shut over that.
“Do we stop driving trucks because of the probability of death while driving? The answer is simply, no! So, why do we stop people from earning a living wage. Three million people have lost or are likely to lose their jobs because of the lockdown,” added Mouton.
Mouton has been vocal about how the extension of the lockdown was destroying many businesses. In April, he penned an open letter saying while everyone wants to protect lives, government should remember that lives are inextricably linked to the economy.
- READ MORE | Silence ‘no longer an option’: Read PSG boss Piet Mouton’s letter calling for an end to lockdown
On Friday, he added that he believes SA will have more fatalities because of hardships if the economy is not immediately opened fully. He said SA citizens have a constitutional right to earn a living and should never have found themselves in the position where they cannot.
Mouton also said government needs to consider how the current situation is widening the fiscal shortfall and how SA will pay for that, and for the state-owned enterprises that are draining the fiscus.
“My personal opinion obviously is that instead of pushing money to revitalize SAA, we should push the money to building more beds in hospitals,” he said.
Mouton said because SA had a very weak economy before Covid-19 due to corruption and “the loss” decade that many say characterized Jacob Zuma’s tenure as president, a continued lockdown will destroy a lot of businesses that were left.
