Assessing the Impact of Corruption on Human Rights and Civil Liberties during COVID-19 in South Africa

Thinavhudzulo Mafumo ORCID iD, Mohammed X Ntshangase ORCID iD & Bernard N Rasila ORCID iD 

Issue: Vol.5  No.14 Issue Article 8 pp.2548-2568
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20245148 | Published online 28th November, 2024
© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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A strange phenomenon of the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak hit the world in 2019. Although countries such as South Africa have procurement policies and procedures on parliamentary actions, the COVID-19 pandemic forced those protocols to be not followed. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of corruption on human rights and civil liberties during Covid-19 in South Africa. Ten participants representing different age groups from Polokwane in Limpopo province were purposively sampled for semi-structured interviews as victims of the lockdown who could not even visit their homes. One of the major findings is that not following government protocols led to serious violations of policies and human rights at large. The discussion in this study shows that the leading political party issued regulations that by far limit civil liberties without any proper justification or legitimacy. For a while, this kind of regulation and issuing of tenders through illegitimate processes has been politically discussed as one of the factors that impoverish the state and increase corruption. In this study, researchers recommend that the South African government must have a plan for managing unforeseen circumstances that can help in times of despair. This study contributes to scholarship as it exposes an academic view of how corruption becomes the result of infringing on human rights and civil liberties. Using an analytic theoretic framework, the negative impact of corruption on human rights and civil liberties in South Africa from 2019 to 2022 will be discussed to expose the seriousness of hasty decision-making by the government.

Keywords: Corruption, Human Rights, Civil Liberties, COVID-19 Pandemic, Government Procedures

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Professor Thinavhudzulo Norman Mafumo holds a PhD in Education Policy Studies from Stellenbosch University. He is the Lead Researcher of the National Longitudinal Teaching Pedagogy Programme at the University of Limpopo. His research interests encompass the philosophy of education, education policy, education management, and social justice in education.

Mohammed Xolile Ntshangase holds a Masters degree in philosophy which he obtained in 2015 (UKZN), and he is completing his PhD with UKZN. He is currently affiliated with the University of Limpopo in the Department of Education Studies, wherein he serves as a lecturer of Philosophy & Psychology of Education. His areas of research interest are; African philosophy, philosophy of education, psychology of education, and gender studies. He has attended and presented papers in 10 academic conferences including national and international ones, and he has more than 20 publications in DHET-accredited journals.

Bernard Naledzani Rasila holds a PhD in law and management from the University of Venda, South Africa. He currently serves as a researcher in the Department of Education in Limpopo province of South Africa.

Mafumo, Thinavhudzulo, Mohammed X Ntshangase & Bernard N. Rasila. “Assessing the Impact of Corruption on Human Rights and Civil Liberties during COVID-19 in South Africa,” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 5, no.14 (2024):2548-2568. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20245148

© 2024 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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