RESPONDING TO THE
IMPACT OF COVID-19
Dubbed a “ black swan ” phenomenon , the Covid-19 pandemic represented an entirely unexpected and completely unpredictable occurrence , the impact of which affected all of us in almost every way imaginable .
GLOBAL OVERVIEW
On 11 March 2020 , the World Health Organisation ( WHO ) declared Covid-19 as a pandemic . At this point in time there were more than 3 million infections worldwide . Since then the statistics have skyrocketed and exactly a year later the global statistics continue to tell the story of a world amidst a humanitarian crisis : 102 million infections and 2,7 million deaths .
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic supersedes that of a public health crisis . It brought about a disruption and continues to unsettle the interconnected world economy in unprecedented ways . Infections reduce labour supply and productivity , while interventions such as national lockdowns , quarantine and social distan cing contribute to major disruptions , lay-offs and loss of income across all economic sectors . In addition , the extreme uncertainty of the duration , magnitude and impact of the pandemic gives way to a vicious cycle of dampening business and consumer confidence and to even more restrictive financial conditions .
SENWES ’ RESPONSE
During the financial year , Senwes continued to manage the escalating spread of the Covid-19 outbreak in a proactive and responsible manner .
In the company ’ s response to the pandemic , precautionary and preventive actions were implemented to help ensure the health and well-being of all our staff , clients and other stakeholders , and to ensure business continuity and continuous value-added service delivery across the group ’ s operations .
Apart from stringent adherence to the set Covid-19 preventative measures , Senwes esta blished a Core Crisis Committee to oversee the group ’ s actions and management of unfolding Covid-19 related risks .
The impact of Covid-19 and the company ’ s response thereto will be featured throughout this financial report and are illustrated by the use of this Covid-19 icon .
SOUTH AFRICAN OVERVIEW
With more than 1,6 million confirmed cases by 30 April 2021 , the country has not been spared from the socio-economic effects of the pandemic . The stringent lockdown , as the main response to curb the spread of the virus in March 2020 , sent our already weakened economy into a downward spiral , which saw it contract by 7,8 % during 2020 . During this period the national unemployment rate reached an all-time high of 30,8 %.
The agricultural sector largely remained operational during the onset of the strict alert level 5 lockdown , with the exception of a few sub-sectors such as the wine , tobacco , wool and floriculture industries . These sub-sectors subsequently became operational during alert levels 4 and 3 . During the second quarter of 2020 , agri culture came out as the strongest performer in the South African economy , growing by 15,1 %.
4 SENWES INTEGRATED REPORT 2021 RESILIENCE