Until there can be guarantees that the health and well-being of every South African can be protected, the government should not be bullied into recklessly opening the economy by those who have power to litigate or inflict one form of limitation or another on state action.

The government must not be put under pressure to accede to the demands of the rich and powerful in ways that could endanger the rest of society. Doing so would simply give the former a free pass to escape the consequences of their globally-oriented and risky lifestyle and to go back to their extractive ways while the poor bear the most burden...