On Thursday, 26 March 2020, the Minister for Employment and Labour, Thembelani Nxesi, issued a Directive entitled ‘Covid- l9 Temporary Employee/Employer Relief Scheme, 2020’ to the general public (the “Directive”). The underlying rationale for the issuing of the Directive is founded on the immense impact the President’s declaration of a national lockdown, and the Regulations imposed in terms of section 27(3) of the Disaster Management Act, have had on the continued trading and commercial viability of especially small to medium enterprises and those entities whose businesses operations are considered to be ‘non-essential’.