Some South African bosses have seized the opportunity presented by the Covid-19 lockdown to downsize workforces, abandoning or retrenching employees. They have also claimed the government’s Unemployment Insurance Fund temporary relief funds on behalf of their employees but kept the money for themselves instead, and have targeted workers who speak out against the virus in their places of work. Unscrupulous businesses have hiked prices and banks have introduced new charges, all of which have been crippling for millions of South Africans.
New Frame is running a series on the coronavirus and capitalism that creates a picture of a lockdown run for the benefit of capital, which has plunged the working class and impoverished into penury.
