Reconstruction in the Aftermath of Global Health and Economic Crises:

Countries that have gone through tough economic times, either due to health pandemics, economic depression or wars, have managed to learn from adversity and rethink their development models. This chapter draws lessons from different countries’ experiences responding to health and economic crises and offers a reflection on South Africa’s own history, particularly the state’s role in responding to adversity. Historically, the state has played a leading role in using crises to spur social and economic change, often through building new institutions, legislative or regulatory frameworks, and recasting its relationship with the markets. Crises often create pressure for collective action, expressed in the state’s activities, to ameliorate social and economic ills. At times, new political regimes are established to replace those that are considered to be ineffective or to serve narrow interests.

In this chapter, we examine how, at various historical points, crises have strengthened some states and led to the creation of new institutional and economic arrangements. The central aim of this chapter is to identify and draw historical lessons that South African policymakers can deploy as a framework for shaping future economic policy and strategy. It bears mentioning, nevertheless, that context matters in undertaking this analysis, especially if decision-makers know how to translate such lessons into useful policy actions. The various crises under discussion occurred in unique and divergent economic and institutional contexts, significantly dissimilar to those of contemporary times. The measures were also not perfect, but eff ective. As such, not every lesson from the past
is necessarily translatable to public policy action today, precisely because contexts and the means differ. The exercise we undertake here is merely for the purpose of delineating policy options that decision-makers can use. The cases that we have selected are countries in which the state demonstrated a sense of mission and agility. They are by no means perfect cases, and lessons cannot easily be implanted in South Africa unless decision-makers show a willingness to adapt those lessons that suit their social and political context.