When the South African Department of Health updated its COVID-19 daily statistics on 23 November 2021, little did it realise its impact on the country's image to the world, especially perceptions of its ability to manage the pandemic. Two days later, South African scientists announced to the world the discovery of a new Coronavirus variant – Omicron (B.1.1.529).
Within hours of the announcement, several countries around the world placed travel bans on South Africa. President Ramaphosa criticised the move as unjustified and referred to the ban as discriminating and a 'slap in the face of African excellence and expertise'.
The travel bans appear harsh given South African scientists' transparency in alerting the world. However, an examination of the situation from another perspective points to the absence of a communication strategy in the South African Department of Health (DoH); and that is a direct consequence of corruption in that Department.
Two days before the announcement of the discovery of the Omicron variant, the DoH reported that the country detected 868 new COVID-19 cases. However, the DoH also announced that the cumulative positive cases had increased to 2 948 760 from 2 930 174 the previous day – a sharp increase of 18 586 cases. Something was amiss and with no explanation forthcoming, some in the international community saw this as a massive surge in infections.
 Number of COVID-19 infections Source: author’s compilation from DoH data *inclusive of new daily cases (click on the image for the full size version) |
In reality, the sharp rise is attributable to the addition of 17 718 old historical cases being added to the database, with some dating as far back as April 2020. A key question then is: how did the communications team at DoH allow such information to be published without explanation? Who was vetting the release of this information? How was this strategised, and what, if any, was the planned response to questioning, within the country, on the continent and globally? It appears that there was no such pre-emptive planning.
This may well be the inevitable result of the decline in the DoH's communication capacity due to the department's vulnerabilities to corruption. Here the recent Digital Vibes saga provides a stark example. Digital Vibes, as revealed by a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) report earlier this year, is a media company at the centre of a web of tender irregularities and corruption involving the DoH.
Even the former minister of health has been implicated. The SIU reports that the media company was irregularly awarded contracts with the DoH for a National Health Insurance media campaign. Then, an extension was awarded to include services for a COVID-19 media campaign valued at approximately ZAR150 million.
So, the diversion of funds that were intended to ensure the DoH communicated on the COVID-19 pandemic adequately meant that, in effect, there was no strategy for communicating the addition of the 17 718 historical cases, which dramatically skewed the infection and positivity rates. Similarly, the Omicron announcement was also made without contextual background or explanation of the additional numbers. There can be little doubt that this contributed directly to the rushed imposition of travel ban of those flying in and out of South Africa.
The cost of corruption is often calculated in terms such as direct financial loss, shortfall to the fiscus and negative growth on the economy, amongst others. Consequently, the recovery of lost money or assets by law enforcement is seen as a key achievement in the fight against corruption. The Digital Vibes case indicates the limits of this approach. So far, just ZAR12 million has reportedly been recovered, but the actual loss, in terms of harm to South Africa's tourism industry, is incalculable.
On 7 December 2021, Statistics South Africa revealed that the country's GDP plummeted by 1.5% in the third quarter of the year, predominantly due to the COVID-19 lockdown and civil unrest in July. One of the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic is the tourism industry, which makes an annual contribution of 8.6% to the national GDP and provides about 1.5 million jobs.
'We've surveyed our members', said David Frost, CEO of the Southern African Tourism Services Association, 'It's frightening, in the first 48 hours ZAR940 million of cancellations took place since the blanket red list ban from much of our source markets.' The SATSA, together with several other South African travel organisations and the British High Commission and the EU commission in South Africa, have been lobbying locally and in the UK to remove South Africa from its red list. Despite South Africa being removed from the red list, the harm has already been done.
In addition the tourism industry, specifically travel industry agencies, has made significant financial contributions towards improving strategic communications on COVID-19. This appears to respond to obvious gaps in government capability directly – a capability undermined by wide-ranging corruption. Clearly then, it is critical to address such systemic corruption at various levels. Here, a two-pronged approach may be the most effective. This approach is not new in the South African context, with the National Anti-Corruption Strategy 2020-2030 providing a complete guideline on implementation.
First, preventive measures would entail the revitalisation and implementation of anti-corruption policies that promote the principles of the rule of law, effective management of public affairs, integrity, transparency and accountability. This means, among other things, the effective implementation of conflict-of-interest policies, a capacitated, effective and functioning anti-corruption agency, and a transparent procurement system.
Second, reactive criminal justice measures complement preventative measures by ensuring that transgressors are held accountable. These include establishing criminal offences to cover all the acts of corruption and ensuring that the criminal justice system is capacitated and adequately funded. Criminal justice institutions would require a level of independence, mandated with sufficient powers of investigation and capacitated with specialised anti-corruption units.
However, while none of this is new, the challenge, as always, remains the institutional leadership required to ensure effective implementation of the policies and the law. For the department of health, the consequence of not applying these measures is a cost that too many South Africans will bear.
Richard Chelin, Senior Researcher, ENACT Project
