Complexities in Policy Implementation during the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Africa

N. Mkhize, X. Thusi
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Abstract

Worldwide, countries were forced to redirect their resources, national efforts, and attention to alleviating the widespread of the coronavirus. Efforts such as national lockdowns, restrictions on certain goods and services, and the prohibition of public or social gatherings have been among the common measures that most governments have implemented in attempts to deal with this novel disease. Actions by the South African government have been no exception to these measures, and to some extent, the implementation of government actions to curb the spread of the coronavirus has been either politically, religiously, or even economically criticised. This is because the COVID-19 pandemic presents policy implementation with several challenges. This is largely because this was associated with a change in the way that government plans, acts, and responds to societal needs. It is for this reason that this study seeks to explore challenges in the implementation of responses aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa. The study adopts a qualitative secondary research approach. The research looks at policies in South Africa for dealing with the COVID-19 epidemic. Data is gathered from literature studies in scholarly publications, the internet and print media, government records, and survey findings from a variety of institutions. A descriptive qualitative analysis technique is adopted for the purposes of analysis. The current article adopts an integrated analytical framework to present and discuss the findings on policy implementation complexities during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa. The analytical framework is an integration of the 7-C protocols for policy implementation with the WHO’s guidelines for the government to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. The findings of this study revealed that the government’s communication lacked an authoritative voice on the ground; despite the “family meetings” that President Ramaphosa used to address and update the general public on developments about COVID-19. In addition, the study found that the number of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 was limited, and to some extent, there has been no clear tool to evaluate their impact.
2019冠状病毒病大流行期间南非政策执行的复杂性
在世界范围内,各国被迫重新分配资源、国家努力和注意力,以缓解冠状病毒的蔓延。国家封锁、限制某些商品和服务以及禁止公共或社交集会等措施是大多数政府为应对这种新型疾病而采取的常见措施。南非政府的行动也不例外,在某种程度上,政府采取行动遏制冠状病毒的传播受到了政治、宗教甚至经济上的批评。这是因为2019冠状病毒病大流行给政策实施带来了若干挑战。这在很大程度上是因为这与政府计划、行动和回应社会需求的方式发生了变化有关。正是出于这个原因,本研究试图探讨在实施旨在遏制COVID-19大流行在南非传播的应对措施时所面临的挑战。本研究采用定性的二次研究方法。这项研究着眼于南非应对COVID-19流行病的政策。数据收集自学术出版物的文献研究、互联网和印刷媒体、政府记录以及各种机构的调查结果。为了分析的目的,采用了描述性定性分析技术。本文采用了一个综合分析框架,介绍和讨论了关于2019冠状病毒病大流行期间南非政策实施复杂性的调查结果。该分析框架是将政策执行的“7-C协议”与世界卫生组织(WHO)政府应对新冠肺炎危机的指导方针相结合的结果。研究结果显示,政府沟通缺乏权威的基层声音;尽管拉马福萨总统利用“家庭会议”向公众发表讲话,并向公众通报COVID-19的最新进展。此外,研究发现,预防COVID-19传播的措施数量有限,在某种程度上,没有明确的工具来评估其影响。
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