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While the COVID-19 pandemic and state response negatively impact government and society alike, the need for public accountability and responsiveness, and the role of civil society in ensuring this has not declined. This article examines how the Covid-19 People's Coalition in South Africa navigated lockdown restrictions to mobilize civil society for participation in governance by demanding effective, just, transparent and responsive COVID-19 policy and practice. Based on analysis of over 40 public statements, the article shows a predominantly negative sentiment in the Covid-19 Coalition's reaction to South Africa's COVID-19 response. Government response was primarily assessed as inadequate, exclusive, anti-poor and vulnerable, violent, and prioritizing socioeconomic concerns that are removed from the realities of the masses. The Coalition offers an example of innovative, people-centered, contextual and bottom-up approach to civil participation. It spoke for the vulnerable and demanded accountable leadership, while highlighting longstanding challenges that have not been effectively addressed. Overlooking such problems undermines the government's ability to tackle crises and achieve good governance. It is recommended that the Coalition balances its criticism with more hands-on and constructive approaches such as exploring avenues for collaboration with government to achieve desired change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effectiveness of a government's communication, especially in times of crisis, is crucial to its legitimacy, reputation, disaster management and its ability to ensure the wellbeing of its people. This paper examines the focus and trends in press statements published on South Africa's official coronavirus website during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Government decisions, successes and challenges were frequently communicated to the public through these statements. The study aimed to understand what was communicated regarding government's priorities and the factors that shaped them. Data were extracted from 483 press statements published between 05 March 2020 and 15 January 2021. Thematic analysis and mean scores were used to identify the focus and trends in the messages, while the Wilcoxon signed rank test (WSRT) was used to identify the significance of the changes in the mean scores. The results showed a coordinated and persistent effort to inform the public with credible, accurate, timely and empowering information. The most persistent priority of the government was to control the spread of the virus, while several issues relating to the socioeconomic wellbeing of the people were prioritised at different stages of the pandemic. There was a parallel movement between the trajectory of the disease and government decisions, suggesting that government response was mostly reactive to the behaviour of the pandemic. The South African government needs to be more proactive in its disaster response and demonstrate a nuanced understanding of its citizens and their challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]