The South African Economy: '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 3rd UFS Thought-Leader Series as part of the Vrystaat Literature Festival’s online initiative, VrySpraak-digitaal and
in collaboration with Vrye Weekblad.
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.
Second webinar presented on 23 September 2020
The South African economy was already in the doldrums before the COVID-19 crisis. Recent data from the NIDS-CRAM study suggests that as many as 3 million people might have lost their jobs as a result of the lockdown. In addition, the government's debt burden has deteriorated. What are the prospects for the South African economy post-COVID-19, post-Crisis?
Date: 23 September 2020
Topic: The South African Economy: Post-COVID-19, Post-Crisis
Time: 11:00-12:30
RSVP: Alicia Pienaar, pienaaran1@ufs.ac.za by 18 September 2020
Facilitator:
Introduction and welcome:
Rector and Vice-Chancellor, UFS
Panellists: