Inequality, Unemployment, and Poverty in the COVID-19 Era in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

Just like other Third World countries (3WCs), South AfricaSouth Africa is faced with the triple threatTriple-threat of inequality, unemploymentUnemployment, and povertyPoverty, a burden which, though inherited from apartheid, has been intensified by theCoronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) COVID-19 pandemic. Using the case of the Eastern Cape Province, which was one of the COVID-19 hotspots, this paper examines the challenges of inequality, unemploymentUnemployment, and povertyPoverty in low-income areas during a pandemic. Using methodological triangulation of purposively sampled secondary data and physical observations, this qualitative paper argues that more than two decades into democracy, socio-economic development is still a far cry from what it should be in South Africa, particularly in previously marginalised demographics. Against this background, this chapter maintains that the unprecedented economic implications of the COVID-19 pandemic have widened the inequality, unemployment, and povertyPoverty gaps in the Eastern Cape. The chapter further exposes how the accompanying by-products of the inequality, unemployment, and povertyPoverty nexus have particularly afflicted the young population, as evident in the high rates of crime, drug abuse and teenage pregnancies in theCoronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) COVID-19 era.