As lockdown restrictions continue to grind away at South Africa’s economy – and daily life – many voices are challenging the government’s management of the crisis. Some – like the group of actuaries calling themselves PANDA – have taken aim at government models that overestimated the Covid-19 death toll. Others, like economists at Stellenbosch University, are highlighting the steep economic costs of government rules like the booze ban and appealing for more balanced policy responses. In this episode, BizNews editor Jackie Cameron and I peel back the layers on the lockdown onion, looking at the new rules, the criticisms of government’s approach, and some of the factors that must be balanced to get Covid-19 right. – Felicity Duncan
South Africa announced new restrictions this week, including a reimposition of the much-loathed booze ban. While medical professionals cheered the news – less drinking means fewer people in the emergency room – ordinary South Africans and economists were considerably less amused.
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The ban comes as some people have begun to question the government’s approach to the pandemic. The group of businesspeople known as PANDA have, for example, criticized the government’s models (although their own models are just as bad, if not worse). Others have pointed out the steep economic costs of the lockdown and asked for more balance in the state response to the crisis.
In this episode, Felicity Duncan and BizNews editor Jackie Cameron discuss the new lockdown rules. They talk about the limitations of PANDA’s critique – and what its own models miss – and the economic costs of the ongoing response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s a complex problem and one with no simple solutions. Too many critics of the government’s approach fail to offer any of their own suggestions – probably because while it’s easy to say what you don’t like, it’s much harder to say what would be better.
