Politics in South Africa: ‘Post-COVID-19, Post-crisis’
As a public higher-education institution in South Africa with a responsibility to contribute to public discourse, the University of the Free State (UFS) will be presenting the third UFS Thought-Leader Series in collaboration with
Vrye Weekblad as part of the Vrystaat Literature Festival’s online initiative,
VrySpraak-digitaal.
This year, higher-education institutions globally are situated within a challenging context of COVID-19. Aware of, and grounded in the reality that the world will not return to the normality of pre-COVID-19, our responsibility as scholars still remains to contribute to public discourse and offer innovative solutions that will impact the lives of people nationally and globally to help them understand and adapt to a new world order.
Against this background and context, this year’s debates focus on
Post-COVID-19, Post-Crisis with
Health and Modelling,
the Economy, Politics and Predictions for 2021 as the sub-themes. Placed within a COVID-19 context and in lieu of the Free State Arts Festival, the series will be presented virtually in the form of one webinar per month from August 2020 to November 2020.
Third webinar presented on 15 October 2020
The political landscape in South Africa was in a logjam before the COVID-19 pandemic, unable to deal decisively with the economic crisis. The worldwide COVID-19 crisis has aggravated an already dire situation.
What should happen politically and economically to get South Africa on the path to recovery? And what are the prospects for the political landscape in South Africa post-COVID-19, post-crisis?
Date: 15 October 2020
Topic: Politics in South Africa: Post-COVID-19, Post-Crisis
Time: 11:00-12:30
Facilitator:
Introduction and welcome:
Rector and Vice-Chancellor, UFS
Panellists:
Deputy Chairman of the South African Institute of International Affairs
(SAIIA)
Biography
Law Trust Chair in Social Justice, Stellenbosch University
Biography Pro-Vice-Chancellor: Poverty, Inequality and Economic Development, UFS
Biography
Chairman: Bidvest Group Limited, Chancellor of the UFS
Biography