Murmurings that the National Treasury would have no option but to turn to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international lending agencies were in the wind way before Covid-19. The pandemic's impact on the South African economy provided the final warning shot for a state aware of the urgent need to undertake structural reform but held hostage by its political ramifications.

Those who warned that the state would have to seek such financial assistance in the face of a welfare bill supporting just under 18-million people were derided for their "alarmist" statements - but the Treasury has applied for $4.2bn (R70bn) in assistance from the IMF...