OPINION: South Africa will not be able to tackle the Covid-19 crisis in a unified way if it does not mitigate the worst of its inequalities, and time is running out, Imraan Valodia and David Francis write.
As South Africa entered its 21-day lockdown, the political message was that South Africans were all in it together. However, it is clear that while society has been united politically to fight Covid-19, there are extreme and persistent economic and social inequalities. The lockdown confines everyone to their home for three weeks. But what does this mean in a country riven with inequalities?
On average, these poorest households have about five members and a total monthly household income of R2,600 . Only 45% of households have an employed member. Much of this income would have been lost as the shutdown began.
For others, in lower-paid formal employment, the lockdown has exposed many to the risk that they could lose their jobs. For this group, the Unemployment Insurance Fund provides some temporary relief. Many of these people would effectively have lost their jobs and their ability to earn an income at midnight on Thursday 26 March. When the lockdown ends, many of these workers, especially women, who often occupy the most precarious positions in the labour market, will find it very difficult to re-establish their work on the street corners, taxi ranks and train stations around the country. These workers, sometimes called “the precariat”, have work, but no protection whatsoever.
While these individuals would have lost a portion of their wealth in the recent stock market crash, they are still substantially better off than most, and their household far better equiped to endure the lockdown.In terms of access to essential supplies, there is also a chasm between rich and poor. As we saw from the long queues in the shopping centres prior to the lockdown, those in the top quintile had sufficient income to go on a buying spree and stock up in anticipation of the lockdown.
But the current crisis is really worsening enormous existing inequalities, in addition to creating new ones.
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