ABSTRACT
When COVID-19 first emerged in South Africa in early 2020, the government responded with speed and resolve. The country promptly implemented public health measures and closely followed World Health Organization directives for an optimal and coordinated global response. However, as the epidemic progressed, the South African response soon came under significant criticism: Corruption, the misallocation of resources, and often ridiculous, non-medical interventions were exposed as key features of the national response. Overzealous, intrusive, and unnecessary policy interventions came to be seen as signs of government authoritarianism rather than the maintenance of a balance between public health and human rights-based policies. This chapter emphasises that epidemics – along with other systemic crises – have historically provided opportunities for positive change, adaptation, and resilience. It contextualises the COVID-19 pandemic within this historical reality, and as it introduces the various contributions in this book, it cautions policy, public health, and development workers never to lose sight of the transformative promise of such a challenge.
