4. The Political Socioeconomic Fallout of the Mismanagement of COVID-19 Public Funds in South Africa

Gendered food security inequality elucidated the vulnerable position of women in South Africa who bear the brunt of the unresolved post-apartheid challenges of inequality, poverty and unemployment 28 years into the democratic era. The inability of women to access their constitutional right to sufficient food and water, in turn, limited opportunities for education, employment and entrepreneurship. The global political socioeconomic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women was worsened by the mismanagement of social response public funds. The study found that there is an adequate state policy framework coupled with enough public sector resources both budgetary and human. It acknowledged the negative and disproportionate impact of the pandemic on women noting this was due to the underlying reason for the remaining gender inequality being political in nature. This took the form of unsuitable and incapable senior cadre deployment, a rampant culture of corruption, lack of coordination, poor communication and a government structure not suited to optimal service delivery. State capture further paralysed commitments and initiatives. This study was conducted through a gendered conceptual lens with a systematic literature review methodology and thematic analysis of purposive data selection. Lessons noted were used to recommend locally innovated women-led agroecology food chain sector businesses proactively assisted by government implementation intervention and horizontal multi-actor governance. The study asserted the South African government’s commitment to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)-adopted Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 – Gender Equality – would not be met by the agreed target date of 2030. A turnaround of substantial progress was still feasible if SDG 2 – Zero Hunger – was prioritised with women’s base physiological requirements met to be equitable participants in a financially inclusive and economically conducive space. The impediment was post-1994 politics, a stumbling block that needed to be mitigated.