Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in South Africa as of March 06, 2022, by region

As of March 06, 2022, overall coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in South Africa reached its highest at 3,684,319 infections. It was also the largest volume of confirmed cases compared to other African countries. Regionally, Gauteng (Johannesburg) was hit hardest and registered 1,196,591 cases, whereas KwaZulu-Natal (Durban) and Western Cape (Cape Town) counted 653,945 and 642,153 coronavirus cases, respectively. In total 23,245,373 tests were conducted in the country. Total recoveries amounted to 3,560,217. On December 12, 2021, the highest daily increase in cases was recorded in South Africa.

Economic impact on businesses in South Africa

The coronavirus pandemic is not only causing a health crisis but influences the economy heavily as well. According to a survey on the financial impact of COVID-19 on various industries in South Africa, 89.6 percent of businesses indicated to see a turnover below the normal range. Mining and quarrying industry was hit hardest with nearly 95 percent of all companies seeing a decrease in turnover, whereas the largest share of businesses experiencing no economic impact are working within the real estate sector and other business services. As a response to the coronavirus, laying off workers in the short term was the most common workforce measure that businesses in South Africa implemented. 36.4 percent of businesses indicated to have laid of staff temporarily, and roughly 25 percent decreased the working hours. Approximately 20 percent of the surveyed companies, on the other hand, said no measures have been taken.

Business survivability without any revenue

Due to the measures taken by the government to prevent the coronavirus from spreading too fast, many businesses had to close its doors temporarily. However, if the coronavirus would leave them without any form of revenue for up to three months, eight out of ten businesses in South Africa predicted (in April 2020) they will go bankrupt. Just 6.7 percent said to survive for longer than three months without any turnover.