COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa highlights unequal access to services
“To date, the South African measures appear to have been successful in slowing the spread of the virus, and have been lauded internationally. But they have also highlighted the challenges and costs of a lockdown, especially for the poor.”
Excerpt from “COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa highlights unequal access to services: Afrobarometer Dispatch No. 358”:
“Some of the differences in access to basic services are explained by the presence or absence of the infrastructure needed to provide the services… In South Africa, most areas had built electricity infrastructure (94%), piped water systems (78%), and cell phone service (75%), while a smaller majority had sewage systems (63%). However, poor South Africans were far less likely than their better-off counterparts to live in areas with basic public service infrastructure.”
Read more at Afrobarometer.org.
More from COVID-19 Africa Watch
- “COVID-19, Gender, and a More Equitable Response for Sub-Saharan Africa”
- “The Post-COVID-19 Urban Challenges in Africa”
- “The Impact of COVID-19 on African Civil Society Organizations”
- “Building Back a Better Africa: Intergenerational Co-leadership and the African Youth Front on Coronavirus”
Watch our interview with Aya Chebbi, African Union Special Envoy for Youth
COVID-19 Africa Watch tracks major developments and policy announcements from across the continent and also offers a curated selection of analysis on how the pandemic will impact African economies and development efforts. The site is a project of the Milken Institute’s Global Market Development Practice.
