Bold action required in South Africa in the face of COVID-19 economic fallout

The Institute for Economic Justice argues that South Africa must implement bold, decisive economic stimulus measures focused on four objectives: supporting households and communities, protecting workers, sustaining businesses, and managing the economy for long-term transformation. The authors advocate for universal income transfers, emergency paid sick pay, conditional business relief, and a 'Green New Deal' to ensure a more equitable and sustainable recovery. They emphasize that financing these measures should avoid austerity-driven reprioritization and instead rely on solidarity taxation and increased borrowing.

• To support households and communities, the authors recommend an emergency universal basic income (UBI) grant and the expansion of zero-rated items for poor households. They also suggest freezing payments and interest on loans, mortgages, utilities, rents, and student loans for a limited period.
• The document calls for the reversal of austerity cuts to public services and the public sector wage bill, noting that in May 2018, there were 38,217 vacant posts in the public health-care sector.
• Worker protections should include emergency paid sick pay for precarious and temporary workers, the prohibition of layoffs, and the amendment of UIF provisions to increase the level and length of payments for low-paid and atypical workers.
• Business assistance should be tied to strict conditions, including the honoring of national minimum wages, the prohibition of layoffs, the reduction of wage inequality, and a ban on executive bonuses and dividend payouts during the relief period.
• The authors propose using the crisis to advance a 'South African Green New Deal' through environmentally-sustainable structural transformation and investments in local production of emergency equipment like ventilators and masks.
• Monetary policy recommendations include further interest rate cuts, the implementation of targeted capital controls to mitigate capital flight, and reducing the 3.5% spread that commercial banks charge above the SARB repo rate.
• The document warns against financing the stimulus package through the reprioritization of existing spending, which would maintain austerity cuts; instead, it suggests solidarity taxation, greater borrowing, and contributions from the wealthy.

APA

Ngidi, B., Phalatse, S., Osborne, C., Choga, P., Coleman, N., & Isaacs, G. (2020). Bold action required in South Africa in the face of COVID-19 economic fallout. Institute for Economic Justice. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Bold-Action-Required-in-South-Africa-COVID-19-2.pdf

Chicago

Ngidi, Bandile, Sonia Phalatse, Carilee Osborne, Pamela Choga, Neil Coleman, and Gilad Isaacs. Bold action required in South Africa in the face of COVID-19 economic fallout. Institute for Economic Justice, 2020. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Bold-Action-Required-in-South-Africa-COVID-19-2.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Ngidi |first1=Bandile |last2=Phalatse |first2=Sonia |last3=Osborne |first3=Carilee |last4=Choga |first4=Pamela |last5=Coleman |first5=Neil |last6=Isaacs |first6=Gilad |title=Bold action required in South Africa in the face of COVID-19 economic fallout |publisher=Institute for Economic Justice |date=23 March 2020 |url=https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Bold-Action-Required-in-South-Africa-COVID-19-2.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ngidi2020bold, author = {Ngidi, Bandile and Phalatse, Sonia and Osborne, Carilee and Choga, Pamela and Coleman, Neil and Isaacs, Gilad}, title = {{Bold action required in South Africa in the face of COVID-19 economic fallout}}, institution = {Institute for Economic Justice}, year = {2020}, month = mar, url = {https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Bold-Action-Required-in-South-Africa-COVID-19-2.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }