TEN MEASURES TO PROTECT THE ECONOMY FROM THE FOURTH WAVE

This policy brief by the Institute for Economic Justice outlines the economic deterioration in South Africa as it enters the fourth wave of COVID-19, highlighting record unemployment and GDP contraction. It argues against government spending cuts and proposes ten specific measures to support vulnerable workers, hard-hit sectors, and the unemployed to prevent social instability.

• South Africa's economy experienced a 1.5% contraction in the third quarter of 2021 and remained 3.1% smaller than pre-pandemic levels. Unemployment reached 34.9% by the narrow definition and 46.6% by the expanded definition, with 660,000 jobs lost in Q3 2021 alone, totaling 2.1 million fewer people employed compared to the first quarter of 2020.
• Economic vulnerability is disproportionately high among specific demographics: youth aged 15 to 24 face a 66.5% unemployment rate (43.8% for those aged 24 to 34), and Black African women face a 51.1% unemployment rate compared to 11.5% for white women.
• Sectoral analysis reveals that wholesale and retail trade, including hospitality, suffered the most significant job losses (over 300,000) and a 5.5% fall in economic activity. Other concerning trends include the loss of 210,000 jobs in community and social services, a 13.6% contraction in agriculture, and a 4.2% negative growth in manufacturing.
• The cost of living has risen sharply, with food prices increasing by 10% between September 2020 and August 2021, causing the cost of a household food basket to rise from R3 856 to R4 241.
• The document recommends ten policy priorities to protect the economy, including reinstating the Temporary Employment Relief Scheme (TERS), extending the COVID-19 SRD grant, committing to a Universal Basic Income Guarantee (UBIG), providing sector-specific loans and grants for tourism, and increasing funding for industrial policy and the Presidential Employment Stimulus (PES) Programme.

APA

Institute for Economic Justice (n.d.). TEN MEASURES TO PROTECT THE ECONOMY FROM THE FOURTH WAVE. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/IEJ-COVID-19-policy-brief-series-5.pdf

Chicago

Institute for Economic Justice. TEN MEASURES TO PROTECT THE ECONOMY FROM THE FOURTH WAVE. n.d. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/IEJ-COVID-19-policy-brief-series-5.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Economic Justice |title=TEN MEASURES TO PROTECT THE ECONOMY FROM THE FOURTH WAVE |url=https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/IEJ-COVID-19-policy-brief-series-5.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforeconomicjusticendten, author = {{Institute for Economic Justice}}, title = {{TEN MEASURES TO PROTECT THE ECONOMY FROM THE FOURTH WAVE}}, institution = {Institute for Economic Justice}, url = {https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/IEJ-COVID-19-policy-brief-series-5.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }