Economic Insecurity Threatens Public Safety and Social Order in South Africa: Can Blockchain Technology Provide a Sustainable Solution?

Literature Review

Bossert and D’Ambrosio (2013, p. 1018) noted that economic insecurity means “the anxiety produced by the possible exposure to adverse economic events and the anticipation of the difficulty to recover from them.” This anxiety can be caused by fear of unemployment, loss of jobs and financial income, failure to pay daily or monthly bills, and failure to visualize the future. Across numerous spheres of life in South Africa, economic insecurity is a daily reality for most South Africans.

Being economically secure enables citizens to live a life of dignity, free from wants and fear, and provides a safe way of living in a socially stable society. It enables citizens to achieve their fundamental rights and ensures a sustainable livelihood that meets their daily expectations. Economic security remains one of the seven pillars of human security. It suggests that people in any sector of society can secure employment that promotes sustainable income, which leads to realizing their expectations and fulfilling their basic needs. Economic security would mean the ability of citizens, households, and communities to realize their essential needs and be free from any kind of fear in the long run, whether of a psychological, environmental, or cultural nature (Ruzmetov, 2020).

Economic security means having steady employment that promotes a stable mind and affords the possibility of achieving sufficient income to meet basic needs. The state must support such economic security by enacting policies and structures that enable income for all, which is the foundation of economic growth (Ruzmetov, 2020). For citizens to live a life of dignity, sustainable financial income is vital, as it strengthens their livelihoods and leads toward achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Moreover, economic stability means accessing resources essential for uplifting and sustainably improving one’s life, health, and well-being (Kolesnokov et al., 2018, p. 225). Threats to economic security include a situation that reduces citizens’ ability to meet their basic needs and to access a reasonable income. Such a situation instills fear in citizens and results in insecurity.

Economic security is significantly improved when a state strengthens social security, pensions and savings, earnings and employment rates, and health-insurance coverage for citizens. Any situation that affects the abovementioned leads to economic insecurity. Shatunova (2008, p. 31) argued that “the threats to economic security involve weak economic systems that hinder the growth of the national economy.” Having numerous internal issues threatens the growth of the economy. Isroilov et al. (2020) opined that those internal threats include a “lack of ability to develop and self-preserve, insufficient innovation activity of the population, the inefficiency of the system of state regulation and management of the economy, incompetence of stakeholders in the search for the most compromise and conflict-free way of development of modern society.” They further indicated that using digital technologies increases the financial potential of investment and consumption, high labor productivity, high-quality products, and high professionalism of human resources (Isroilov et al., 2020). Blockchain technology is one of those technologies that are used to promote economic growth. Moreover, civil wars, political violence and conflict, xenophobia, and social protest affect the economy and slow its growth. Therefore, this causes economic insecurity, threatening public safety and social order.

Unemployment in South Africa has affected people’s livelihoods and has increased social unrest and violence. It has, for example, ignited xenophobic violence against foreign nationals, which has affected financial markets and economic growth negatively. Urdal (2012) argued that social unrest and violence result from a high rate of unemployment that leads to severe job losses and uncertainty. This means that economic insecurity makes people uncertain of the future, thus resulting in xenophobic violence, violent social protests, and unrest in South Africa. Urdal (2012) further argued that unemployment, underemployment, and loss of jobs are determinants of economic insecurity and affect a nation’s ability to provide sustainable public safety and social order. Scholars have argued that there are immense links between poverty, political instability, and violence (Collier & Hoeffler, 2002; Miguel et al., 2004).