Economic impact and responses to Covid-19 in South Africa

Although the African continent has suffered comparatively lower number of cases and deaths due to COVID-19 than other continents, we should still be worried since the continent has more poverty and inequality, and weaker healthcare systems to deal with a possible surge of cases in the future. It is also now common knowledge that the highly informalized economies that characterise most African countries have left many people and businesses vulnerable as a result of the lock downs.

South Africa is one of the countries on the African continent which has had relatively higher incidences of COVID-19. Its economy is considered the second largest on the African continent and, in the same breath, is among the most unequal countries in the World, with arguably the widest gap between the rich and the poor on the African continent. It is a unique case in so many ways, enjoying a relatively better economy which also hides some of the realities of struggling communities. To discuss the responses of South Africa to the pandemic, while providing some commentary on the other countries in the SADC region, we invite Bandile Ngidi, Project Co-ordinator of Rethinking Economics who also works for the Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ), a South African based organization concerned with equal access to economic resources.

This discussion is part of a Webinar Series that seeks to provide a platform for academics and non-academics to discuss international, continental, regional and country specific responses to the pandemics and disasters in general in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak which the world has been grappling with since January 2020. For more information on the nature and objectives of the overall series, click here: https://ysi.ineteconomics.org/project/5e8ae46ba6a5c2058bcf3466. Should you also be interested in previous presentations in this series visit the following links:
Webinar no. 1"Grappling with the Pathocene: Africa and the Corona Virus Pandemic in Historical Perspective",
https://youngscholarsinitiative.zoom.us/rec/play/vMJ8I-Cu_zs3TICd4wSDB6dwW47sfa6s1HUcrqdenkixBnBSZ1T1M-NEM7TjYfCjTBJUyO917hMTyXRQ?fbclid=IwAR2BDqiFZ5QEul5No3og0de2CXORVup0WhsvgfZrcEf76fwW1W2Rz90Hdyg;

Webinar no. 2 "Fiscal and Monetary Concerns During the COVID-19 Pandemic" https://youngscholarsinitiative.zoom.us/rec/play/7pEscLj8pz43EtOcuQSDBaMrW466J62sh3Qf_PJcy0-8BnkFMFKvZ7ASZ7cAcJ-zgecj1x-Jk2ltl3rf

Name: Bandile Ngidi
Designation: Project Co-ordinator: Rethinking Economics
Organisation: Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ)
Topic: Economic impact and responses to COVID-19 in South Africa
Day: 28 May 2020
Time: 1600hrs CAT