The Ten Year Lockdown | IRR Press Briefing with Dr Anthea Jeffery

Dr Anthea Jeffery, Head of Policy Research for the Institute of Race Relations (IRR), will present an online media briefing on Thursday on her latest report, The 10-Year Lockdown.

The report argues that the easing of South Africa’s stringent Covid-19 lockdown this week occurs against the background of an unacknowledged policy ‘lockdown’ for at least the last ten years, characterised by ‘radical economic transformation’ policies aimed at changing the ownership, control, and very structure of the economy.

The report warns that the ruling African National Congress “will use the economic devastation triggered by the lengthy lockdown to push for the rapid adoption of these measures as part of ‘reconstruction’ and the ‘radical economic transformation’ underpinning this process”.

Breakdown of presentation:

09:45 Presentation begins
12:20 Not just a Covid-19 lockdown
12:45 Understanding the policy lockdown
25:00 Labour laws, NDR strategies and tactics
30:10 NDR policies and economic impact
34:15 Further impact of labour laws
37:05 BEE, NDR strategies and tactics
38:35 NDR policies and their impact
42:20 Impact on public service, economy
44:50 Property rights, NDR strategies/tactics
47:50 EWC particularly damaging
50:00 Lockdown's devastation and the NDR
52:40 Fresh impetus to key NDR interventions
54:35 Yet more NDR interventions
56:35 Massive damage from proposed changes
58:05 End presentation, begin press Q&A