The factionalism within the African National Congress (ANC, the ruling party in South Africa) also highlights how vulnerable the institution of democracy has become ( Booysen 2021). However, Habib (2021) also highlights how factions have taken advantage of these frustrations to mobilize people into a state of unrest. The lack of service delivery has become generalized across the state, with several institutions weakened by prolonged corruption and incompetent management. Jaco Barnard-Naudé (2021) argues that it was a confluence of factors, including the experiences of extreme poverty, hunger, unemployment, and homelessness, combined with the imprisonment of a populist figure.Īdam Habib (2021) describes the state of hopelessness that is pervasive in poor communities. It also occurred during a period labeled as an Adjusted Level 4 Lockdown due to the peaking of the COVID-19 third wave. The timing of the violence also cannot be ignored, as it followed immediately after President Zuma was imprisoned.
Many have questioned whether the spree of looting and subsequent violence in July 2021 was a form of protest in response to the majority's experiences of poverty or from political dissidents waging an organized campaign to destabilize the country. Thus, a sociocultural analysis of the pandemic highlights how societal tensions were exacerbated through the effects of looting and unrest.įrom the sociopolitical perspective, the stresses of the pandemic have also heightened political conflicts. This racial distribution of poverty further adds to tensions between racial groups, worsening social cohesion.
To date, the population of the country is primarily segregated along racial lines (SERI 2018: 6). The effects of the Apartheid era Group Areas Act of 1950 remain, with people of color forcefully removed from prime real estate and relocated vast distances away from the economic centers of cities. Unfortunately, twenty-seven years into democracy, those living in these conditions are predominantly from the black population group. In addition to these high levels of inequality, 14 percent of households live in informal settlements, with houses constructed using substandard materials and having little access to piped water or sanitation (SERI 2018: 6). Nationally, the Gini coefficient was reported as 0.65 in 2019, which has remained relatively consistent since 2006 (Statistics South Africa 2019). As explained later in this article, when analyzing the socioeconomic dimension of the COVID-19 pandemic, one notes how it has exacerbated existing developmental crises and created considerably greater challenges for the government to address ( Maringira 2020).Īcross all provinces in the country, poverty and inequality are widespread. Despite twenty-seven years of government policies attempting to address these disparities, little has changed on average for poor South Africans, with the state failing to provide basic services to a large portion of society. South Africa has one of the highest income inequality, poverty, and structural unemployment levels among emerging economies globally ( Netshitenzhe 2013). While the trauma remains fresh in the minds of South Africans, many are looking for answers that explain this period of unrest and chaos.
#SOUTH AFRICA LOCKDOWN DATES 2021 SERIES#
His imprisonment was followed by a series of riots near his home village, which gradually expanded to widespread looting across two provinces, leaving over 300 people killed and the destruction of property amounting to billions of rands ( Reuters 2021 Seekings 2021 Sidimba 2021). Due to this refusal, President Zuma was judged guilty of contempt of court and sentenced to fifteen months in prison ( Calland 2021). President Zuma challenged the legitimacy of the Commission's chairperson, Chief Justice Zondo, and therefore refused to testify at the Commission. In early July 2021, while South Africa was in the midst of the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the country was also in the midst of a dispute between former President Zuma and the National State Capture Commission tasked to identify deep-seated cases of corruption harming the country.
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