Economic packing
food parcels to be given out to the needy during the COVID 19 pandemic lockdown. The lockdown had a seriously negative impact on South Africa's economy that hit the poor and unemployed especially hard. At the beginning of the national shutdown on 27 March South African economists predicted that the pandemic could cause a 2.5% to 10% contraction of
South Africa's total GDP in 2020. The national lockdown and resulting economic slowdown reduced demand for electricity by more than MW thereby temporarily reducing the impact of the long running
South African energy crisis. It is estimated that the government would experience a revenue shortfall for 2020 of between R70 and 100 billion. This resulted in the South African government announcing a R500 billion
stimulus package thereby accelerating deficit spending from 6.8% to over 10% of GDP for the 2020 financial year. increasing the country's total debt to GDP ratio to 83%. Trade unions and the EFF were critical of using the IMF to take out the loan whilst the DA and other opposition political parties voiced concern over corruption when using the borrowed funds. On 19 March, the
South African Reserve Bank governor,
Lesetja Kganyago announced a reduction of the country's
repo rate by 100 basis points or 1 percentage point to 5.25%. On 14 April, a further reduction to 4.25% per year was made. On 22 March,
Standard Bank announced a 90-day
payment holiday for small and medium-sized business and students to try and shield them from the economic impact of the outbreak, starting from 1 April. In May it was estimated that the state will lose R285-billion in tax revenue for the financial year 2020–21 due to the pandemic and resulting lockdown. Within the first month of the lockdown three million South Africans had lost their jobs contributing to an increase in food insecurity and poverty. By mid-July wide spread food shortages were reported across the country and in rural Eastern Cape in particular. In December 2020 it was reported by Finfind and the
Department of Small Business Development that 42.7% of small businesses in South Africa had closed due to the economic impact of the lockdown. Financial services company Transaction Capital predicted that the protracted years-long lockdown that the ANC government implemented in response to the pandemic would cause 34% of households in South Africa to fall out of the middle class.
Corruption and profit gouging Corruption has had a significant negative impact on efforts to fight the pandemic by inflating the costs of government procurement whilst eroding public confidence in government institutions. Years of corruption prior to the pandemic has reduced the capacity of the country's health service. Incidents of police corruption also increased during the lockdown period as security officials used their expanded positions of power to extort bribes from members of the public. Concerns were raised that funds from a COVID-19-related R70 billion
IMF loan On 7 August President Ramaphosa announced that ministerial committee would be set up to investigate COVID-19 corruption in state tenders. In late July President Ramaphosa announced that measures would be implemented to combat corruption in the delivery of food parcels and the procurement of exorbitantly priced goods. A number of government officials implicated in allegations of COVID-19-related corruption include
Ace Magashule, the wife of
Bandile Masuku, and the husband of presidential spokesperson
Khusela Diko. and Masuku have denied any involvement in COVID-19 related procurement corruption allegations. An investigation into COVID related fraud at the
City of Johannesburg found that over 1,500 employees of the City improperly received COVID-19 related social relief and grants. Notable COVID-19 corruption or profit gouging scandals included: • Digital Vibes scandal valued at R150 million • Gauteng Education Department school sanitisation scandal valued at R431 million
Social impact The Rise of Gender Based Violence South Africa's COVID-19 lockdown led to a rise in domestic abuse within many South African private spheres. Due to the nationwide five-stage lockdown, families were forced to live in proximity to one another. The national shutdown began at stage five, when the general public, aside from essential services, was confined to their residences. In addition, the government imposed bans on alcohol and cigarettes in stages 5 and 4, with stage 3 permitting the retail sale of alcohol within certain hours during the COVID-19 lockdown. Therefore, women were isolated within the home with their abusers while being unable to reach out to any support systems and networks. The restrictions on alcohol lead to a decrease in alcohol-related injuries, but an increased reporting of domestic violence. However, these reports did not affect the government's decision to lift the substance restrictions, as public health was its main priority. Several factors contributed to the rise of domestic violence against women and children during lockdown. Many families faced the change of traditional gender roles being challenged within the home. Men were unable to work in the public sphere and provide financially, and were now involved in the private sphere, which challenged ideas around masculinity within South Africa's patriarchal society. Economic, food, and social insecurities plagued families and intimate partnerships with stress and conflict within homes. Therefore, this increases the number of violent and dangerous situations for women and children within the home. Households with lower socio-economic status (SES) experienced violence stemming from food insecurity, while high SES households experienced violence from the forced proximity.
2019–20 Pro14 season,
Varsity Rugby,
Craven Week,
Premier Soccer League,
Athletics South Africa,
Sunshine Tour golf,
Wimpy Lifesaving South Africa national championships and
Parkrun. The
Cape Epic cycle tour, the 2020
Two Oceans Marathon and the 2020
Comrades Marathon were cancelled. The
2020 Cape Town Rugby Sevens, 4–6 December 2020, were cancelled. Live events cancelled or postponed included the
Mangaung African Cultural Festival (MACUFE), Bloem Show,
AfrikaBurn,
Cape Town International Jazz Festival,
Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees,
Splashy Fen Festival,
Rand Show,
National Arts Festival (changing to virtual),
SciFest Africa (postponed to 9–15 September),
WWE Live South Africa (postponed until September),
Comic Con Cape Town, and Matric Rage festivals in Johannesburg, Jeffreys Bay and Plettenberg Bay. South African tours were postponed by the
Lighthouse Family,
Boyz II Men and
BeBe Winans. Trade and agricultural shows postponed or cancelled included HuntEx, DecorEx Cape Town & Durban, Tyrexpo (postponed to 4–6 August 2020), Power & Electricity World expo (postponed until 20–21 August), the
Pietermaritzburg Royal Show, SA Cheese Festival, Qualité Awards Dinner, and Agri-Expo Western Cape Youth Show. The
Zion Christian Church cancelled its annual Easter pilgrimage. The
Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) suspended
Friday prayers, then closed mosques altogether on Sunday 22 March, but the call to prayer will still be given. Chief Rabbi
Warren Goldstein suspended Synagogues. Traditional circumcision schools in the Eastern Cape were suspended. The City of
Johannesburg closed all public facilities indefinitely including public swimming pools, recreational and civic centres, stadiums, libraries, sporting facilities, and the
Johannesburg Zoo. The
Ethekhwini Metropolitan Municipality closed all of
Durban's public facilities including swimming pools, beaches, libraries, community halls, and museums while restrictions have been put in place for the
Durban Art Gallery and cemeteries to only allow 50 people at a time. The
City of Cape Town closed all public facilities indefinitely including public swimming pools, recreational and civic centres, stadiums, sporting facilities, and the nature reserves. The
2021 Women's FIH Hockey Junior World Cup because of a new
COVID-19 variant, the tournament was put on hold on 26 November 2021 and a decision will be made by the FIH in the near future. Ballito Rage 2021 cancelled after 36 test positive for Covid-19, Plett Rage festival cancelled.
Protests On 5 August, members of the entertainment, restaurant, fitness, and events industries staged a socially distanced national protest by lighting buildings red. The #LightSAred campaign was staged so as to highlight the negative economic impact of the COVID-19 lockdown measures on these industries.
Looting In April 2020, a number of liquor stores and food stores were targeted by looters in the Cape Town suburbs of
Elsies River,
Delft South, Samora Machel,
Manenberg, Sherwood Park,
Nyanga Junction, and
Gatesville. On 21 July 2020, a truck carrying COVID-19 specimens was hijacked at a clinic in
Motherwell, Eastern Cape and found abandoned 500 metres away.
Migration In a trend dubbed "
semigration" the South African media has reported that the pandemic catalyzed significant movement of wealthier South Africans from cities in Gauteng province (notably Johannesburg) to urban areas of the Western Cape province (notably Cape Town). A trend that, although accelerated by the pandemic, was reportedly driven by an increased desire for access to natural amenities, the ability to
work remotely, and better municipal management.
Birth sex ratio change Between September 2012 and December 2020, the
sex ratio at birth declined and inverted (less than 50%) in June 2020 for the first time. This drop, attributed to population stress, took place three months after COVID-19 in South Africa started in March 2020.
Spread Model-based simulations indicate that the 95%
confidence interval for the
time-varying reproduction number R t was higher than 1.0 until mid-July, exceeding 1.0 again from late October to December 2020. == Statistics ==