SouthAfrica faces mass hunger if efforts to offset impact of COVID19 are eased
When South Africa entered a hard lockdown on 27 March, the government was globally recognised for taking tough steps to “flatten the curve” and keep COVID-19 infections low. Four months on, our research, using data from a broader national survey, shows large groups of households are experiencing tremendous hardship as a direct result of the lockdown.Of the adults we interviewed, 47% reported that their home ran out of money to buy food in April.
But the response was neither wide nor deep enough to overcome the devastating implications of job or income losses on household food insecurity. Furthermore, gaps in government responses emerged. Administrative challenges in expanding social assistance and social insurance delayed the provision of relief to some households.
To complement our analysis of this quantitative data, we conducted telephonic interviews with key informants who were able to provide information about the provision of food relief during lockdown. First, urgent attention needs to be given to rectifying technical glitches that exist in the UIF system.
We also believe that continuing grant top-ups for three more months until January 2021 is critical. This is particularly true in view of the projected contraction of the economy by 7.2%. It will thus take much longer for the economy to recover enough for people to find jobs.
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