POSITION PAPER

Country : Republic of South Africa

Committee : African Union
Delegate : Putri Angel Victoria
Topic : Policy Response Covid 19 in South Africa

“This struggle to save every life, and we need to ensure the availability of beds. the body of the
corona virus is much more violent and devastating than we know” - Cyril Ramaphosa
The COVID-19 or coronavirus pandemic which has affected the global economy has also
affected the African economy through spillovers to African countries. Many African countries
have taken bold quarantine and lockdown measures to control the spread of COVID-19 although
this has come at a cost such as the collapse of health systems and a painful economic crisis or
recession. A coordinated and bold response by African authorities is needed. First, public funds
should be provided to improve the capacity of health systems in African countries. Second,
financial support should be provided to individuals, entrepreneurs and corporations to help them
cope with the adverse effect of the coronavirus crisis. Third, employers should be granted
incentives to preserve employment during the crisis to avoid mass layoff of workers. Finally, the
Central bank in African countries should provide liquidity and credit support as well as asset
purchase programs to prevent credit and liquidity crunch in domestic financial markets.
The coronavirus, or the disease it causes “COVID-19”, originated in China's Wuhan
Province in December 2019, began to spread rapidly in China and other parts of the world
through the movement of people in early 2020. The spread of COVID-19 is affecting economic
activity in China, and by month. February, China's economy stalled. China is the main exporter
of commodities to African countries, and experiencing a contraction in China is expected to have
spillover consequences for African countries through a negative impact on African businesses
that rely heavily on China for primary supplies and intermediate raw materials. The coronavirus
crisis is affecting many African countries, and the number of confirmed cases has risen rapidly
with particularly severe situations in South Africa, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco and Cameroon
(Peterson Ozili,2020)
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the health infrastructure was in the South African
country that had deteriorated. Currently, according to South Africa, 65% of health care costs
come from out-of-pocket expenditures compared to Europe where national and regional
authorities are in charge of health policy and citizen spending. During the COVID-19 pandemic,
although quarantines and other measures were adopted to stop the spread of COVID-19, the
number of infected cases continued to increase significantly. (National Geograhic,2020)
 South Africa believes, this is increasing unprecedented pressure on the public health system.
Some private hospitals refuse to admit infected patients while public hospitals exceed their
capacity. South Africa believes, where a good health care system exists, the government should
increase its intensive care units and provide more resources for hospitals and health care systems
to control the spread of the coronavirus. South Africa believes the severe social impact of the
coronavirus crisis is being felt through the imposition of movement restrictions. Some of the
restrictive measures imposed to control the spread of the corona virus include: limiting non-
essential activities, closing schools and universities, encouraging people to stay at home, locking
up entire cities, requiring essential businesses to run skeletal operations and employees having to
work from home. these measures inevitably affect economic activity and policymakers must use
economic policy, both fiscal and monetary policy, to mitigate negative effects on the economy
South Africa believes covid 19 responses can be divided into three phases:
The first phase began in mid-March when the coronavirus pandemic was declared as a national
disaster. This included a broad range of measures to mitigate the worst effects of the pandemic
on businesses, on communities and on individuals. The measures included tax relief, the release
of disaster relief funds, emergency procurement, wage support through the UIF and funding to
small businesses. (President Cyril Ramaphosa: Measures to combat Coronavirus (COVID-19)
epidemic)

The second phase of the economic response was aimed at stabilizing the economy, addressing
the extreme decline in supply and demand and protecting jobs. On 21 April, the President
announced that a social and economic support package of R500 billion had been finalized,
amounting to approximately 10% of GDP. The three areas of focus are (i) redirecting resources
to fund the health response to coronavirus; (ii) providing direct support to households and
individuals for the relief of hunger and social distress; and (iii) providing assistance to companies
in distress and sex to protect jobs by supporting workers' wages.
The third phase is an economic strategy aimed at driving the recovery of the economy as the
country emerges from this pandemic. Central to the economic recovery strategy will be measures
to stimulate demand and supply through interventions such as a substantial infrastructure build
program, the speedy implementation of economic reforms, and other steps that will ignite
inclusive economic growth.
South Africa believes is to steadily increase economic activity while putting measures in place to
reduce the transmission of the virus and provide adequate care for those who become infected
and need treatment. As part of this approach, there will be five Coronavirus Alert Levels, in line
with a risk-adjusted strategy which seeks to slow down the rate of infection and flatten the curve:
(Tralac.com,2020)

Level 5: drastic measures are required to contain the spread of the virus to save lives.
Level 4: some activity can be allowed to resume subject to extreme precautions required to limit
community transmission and outbreaks - effective 1 May 2020
Level 3: easing of some restrictions, including on work and social activities, to address a high
risk of transmission - effective 1 June 2020
Level 2: further easing of restrictions, but the maintenance of physical distancing and restrictions
on some leisure and social activities to prevent a resurgence of the virus - effective 18 August
2020
Level 1: most normal activity can resume, with precautions and health guidelines followed at all
times.
Also South Africa believes a curfew will apply from 9:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. and will take effect
on Monday. Exemptions will be given to residents who have to go to work and require medical
assistance.
The rules for wearing masks will be tightened and the country will remain at the third level - out
of five - regarding the coronavirus alert system and family visits and community activities are
still prohibited. (South African Ministry of Health,2020)
The phased reopening of the economy began on 1 May 2020. On 15 August, that South Africa
believes will move to Alert Level 2 with effect from midnight on Monday, 17 August 2020
(Statement by President Cyril Ramaphosa on progress in the national effort to contain the Covid-
19 pandemic ).South Africa believes Alert Level 2 in terms of our risk adjusted strategy in
dealing with the pandemic means that there is a moderate Covid19 spread of the virus with a
relatively high health system readiness. The move to level 2 means that we can remove nearly all
of the restrictions on the resumption of economic activity across most industries. Economic
activity will be allowed with the necessary and appropriate stringent health protocols and safety
precautions in place.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

https://www.tralac.org/news/article/14617-south-africa-s-policy-response-to-the-covid-19-
pandemic.html

https://www.csis.org/analysis/south-africas-bold-response-covid-19-pandemic

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2020/07/08/learning-from-the-best-evaluating-
africas-covid-19-responses
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340610720_COVID-
19_in_Africa_Socioeconomic_Impact_Policy_Response_and_Opportunities

https://www.bbc.com/indonesia/dunia-52620045

https://mantrasukabumi.pikiran-rakyat.com/internasional/pr-20594722/afrika-selatan-kembali-diserang-
lonjakan-corona-pemerintah-berlakukan-jam-malam-dan-larang-alkohol?page=2