Can we learn from the past to create a better post COVID-19 Emfuleni?
As South Africa enters a deep state of shutdown in the face of COVID-19, it is clear that ‘business as usual’ is no longer on the cards. Government leaders can learn from historical examples of pandemic and economic crises.
At present government, and its stakeholders, are preparing to place the economy on hold as the shutdown starts. It means that a welfare state is on the horizon for the immediate future. Capitalism is bound to be placed on the back burner to get the country through one of the worst crises since the global economic depression of 1930-33.
Back then, in the United States of America, President Franklin D Roosevelt introduced the ‘New Deal’ (1933-39) which enabled the world’s prime capitalist democracy to neutralise the impact of economic disaster.
The federal government made available large amounts of money to help economically uplift literally millions of Americans who had been hard hit by the depression. The free market was unable to take the lead in restoring the economy. Therefore the state literally mimicked aspects of Communist Russia’s governance, that flourished at the time.
A number of Western states mimicked the USA’s New Deal for re-starting their own economies. The South African government invested in the development of the country’s infrastructure systems.
The best example was the strategic water resources infrastructure of the country. Large water storage facilities, such as the Vaal Dam (1933-38) and sophisticated irrigation projects were developed in many parts of the country.
Able-bodied men were employed by the state to do menial work on the construction sites. The money they earned was largely made available to their families. Moreover, workers were provided with proper living conditions, services and opportunities for self-betterment – all funded by the state.
In many cases poor whites (especially Afrikaans-speaking South Africans), who had primarily been living, under circumstances of destitution in the rural areas of the country, were given an opportunity to be re-skilled.
Identified workers, with personal drive, later had the opportunities to be educated in irrigation farming before being granted the right to secure a piece of land and some equipment with which they could start their operations in irrigation communities. Government extended loans to successful individuals who had become owners of land that could be used as security for loans. Property rights formed in inherent part of the deal. But, they first had to prove themselves on the land.
Some of today’s most successful irrigation areas, especially in the arid parts of central South Africa (e.g. Vaalharts), date back to government’s poverty alleviation projects period (1933-38).
If we consider South Africa’s current situation it is evident the country, is on the recovery path after the dreadful Zuma corruption years (2009-18). But since early 2020 COVID-19 has been responsible for a state of creative destruction. It now requires adaptation and resilience from society as whole.
Infrastructure has been most evident in the energy-water nexus. In 2008 (electricity) and then water, as of 2014, as a result of the countrywide drought (2014-2020) were the prime pointers of collapse. Prime indicators were municipal infrastructure where there were fatal flaws in service delivery. Prime examples were Cape Town (2015-2018) for potable water supplies, and Emfuleni (since 2018) for wastewater infrastructure.
If, in 2020, government were to invest in infrastructure retrofitting and upgrading, with a dedicated and motivated labour force, its investment in the welfare, especially of the poor and unemployed people, can be a return, that would work to the benefit local communities and the country as a whole.
Apart from the state, the private sector can also be incorporated to help in the management of goods and services production.
The state can invest in new technologies, e.g. communications and renewable energy infrastructure, and water re-use systems.
The value of creating a sense of new national unity should not be underestimated. It should start in the local neighbourhood and cascade up to our societal perspective of a united South Africa.
If we were to use Emfuleni as example, the foremost objective should be to help the local economy move into a re-development phase. Existing and new industries can be started up with the government and private sector collaborating on key production systems.
Emfuleni’s infrastructure systems require significant support. Water, sanitation, electricity, roads and environmental cleanliness are only a few potential areas that need attention.
State-supported welfare, in the post-COVID-19 era, should not become an investment, without tangible returns for all.
When a future generation of Emfuleni residents contemplates the COVID-19 times, they should note that it was the time when the residents of a South African city, that had first collapsed, was able to resiliently adapt to a resilient local unity mindset.
- The author is an extraordinary professor in the Faculty of Arts, North-West University
