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Ebrahim Patel
Minister of Commerce and Industry Ebrahim Patel has effectively rejected requests from online merchants to allow unrestricted electronic commerce in South Africa, saying that doing so would be considered “unfair competition” and risked spreading Covid-19.
The minister’s comments, at a government press conference on Saturday, are likely to be met with disappointment and outrage by e-retailers, including the country’s largest, Takealot.com, which has argued that online shopping They have been allowed without restrictions in most other countries, including China, during their blockades as a way to stem the spread of the new coronavirus while supporting economic activity.
Patel made it clear at the press conference that he is not buying these arguments.
It is important that we keep systems and arrangements in place and that we do everything humanly possible to save lives.
“If we open any category, say e-commerce, there is inevitably tremendous pressure to do the same for physical stores, spaza stores, informal merchants, so there is fair competition,” Patel said.
“When we have all the other parts of retail that also sell (products), then of course there are a large number of people moving in society. We need to make sure we have a system that has broad social support, that ensures that we don’t multiply now and drastically increase the number of places that sell things to the point where the virus actually spreads, where we have large numbers of people dying, where we have coffins for the whole show. “
The minister said that “graphic images” of Italy of “army trucks used to move coffins because all normal services were overwhelmed and large numbers of people had died” should serve as a warning.
‘It is real’
“More than 50,000 Americans have died in this pandemic. It is real. The fact that we have not had a large number of deaths in South Africa should not make us complacent. It is important that we keep systems and arrangements in place and that we do everything humanly possible to save lives. “
“It is incomprehensible that this country cannot see the economic value it can offer South Africa online in a time of need, the social value it can offer at this time. All over the world it is open and doing exactly what it should be doing, which facilitates social distancing, “said Reid.
Takealot CEO Kim Reid
“There should be no limitation on online delivery to the home, there is no limitation! And I’m not talking about food, food is more controversial, but when we get to the delivery of essential and non-essential goods to people’s homes … it’s silly (to ban it). “
He said the government has been “myopic” in not allowing unrestricted online shopping, particularly due to the topics it so often pays to the fourth Industrial Revolution and the importance of technological innovation in the growth of the economy. – © 2020 NewsCentral Media
