Impoverished Excluded From South Africa's Inequality Debate

South Africa's economic policies have been moving to the right, embracing big business and ignoring workers and jobless people. Why does no organised voice speak out against this, writes Steven Friedman for New Frame.

Evidence shows that the economic costs of the Covid-19 pandemic have been largely borne by the usual victims, people who are already worse off. As the economist Neva Makgetla pointed out: "Less skilled workers lost more livelihoods; small businesses were more likely to close down; and government cuts to services disproportionately hurt low-income households and communities."

This echoes findings from the University of Johannesburg-Human Sciences Research Council Covid-19 Democracy Survey in 2020 which revealed that 81% of respondents reported that they were struggling to pay for their expenses given their financial situation under lockdown while 15% of participants reported being laid off work and been unable to find new employment since the start of lockdown.

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