TOWARDS A SAFER, MORE EQUITABLE OPENING OF THE ECONOMY

The policy brief critiques the South African government's 'risk-adjusted' strategy for reopening the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing that it prioritizes business profitability over worker safety and ignores the impact of deep social inequalities. The authors propose a 'well-being economy' framework that treats health and economic performance as intertwined. Key recommendations include democratizing the return to work through worker oversight, implementing a universal basic income guarantee, expanding social infrastructure in townships, and reversing austerity measures in the national budget to provide a genuine rescue package for the most vulnerable.

• The authors argue that South Africa's approach to reopening the economy fails to account for 'social comorbidities'—inequalities in income, space, gender, and race—which make low-income workers more vulnerable to COVID-19 due to dense living conditions, lack of sanitation, and overcrowded transport.
• The document proposes 'democratising the return to work' by requiring health and safety agreements signed by unions or worker representatives, increasing the labour inspectorate, and strengthening the right of workers to refuse unsafe work.
• To mitigate the economic burden on workers, the brief recommends a wage premium for high-risk occupations, the adoption of short-time work to prevent retrenchments, and the implementation of a maximum wage ratio between the top 5% and bottom 10% of the workforce.
• The authors call for expanded social support, including replacing the temporary COVID-19 grant with a universal Basic Income Guarantee, increasing the Child Support Grant per child, and providing mass ablution facilities and water access in townships.
• The brief highlights the specific vulnerability of women, noting a 49% reduction in active employment for women between February and April 2020, and recommends prioritizing programs to confront gender-based violence and expanding community childcare.
• The document criticizes the June 2020 Supplementary Budget for continuing austerity measures and reducing new spending to R36 billion (less than 1% of GDP), which the authors argue is insufficient given the projected economic contraction of 7.2% to 20%.

APA

Smith, M. N., Coleman, N., & Isaacs, G. (2020). TOWARDS A SAFER, MORE EQUITABLE OPENING OF THE ECONOMY. Institute for Economic Justice. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/IEJ-COVID-19-policy-brief-series-2_2.pdf

Chicago

Smith, Michael Nassen, Neil Coleman, and Gilad Isaacs. TOWARDS A SAFER, MORE EQUITABLE OPENING OF THE ECONOMY. Institute for Economic Justice, 2020. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/IEJ-COVID-19-policy-brief-series-2_2.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Smith |first1=Michael Nassen |last2=Coleman |first2=Neil |last3=Isaacs |first3=Gilad |title=TOWARDS A SAFER, MORE EQUITABLE OPENING OF THE ECONOMY |publisher=Institute for Economic Justice |date=23 July 2020 |url=https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/IEJ-COVID-19-policy-brief-series-2_2.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{smith2020towards, author = {Smith, Michael Nassen and Coleman, Neil and Isaacs, Gilad}, title = {{TOWARDS A SAFER, MORE EQUITABLE OPENING OF THE ECONOMY}}, institution = {Institute for Economic Justice}, year = {2020}, month = jul, url = {https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/IEJ-COVID-19-policy-brief-series-2_2.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }