Communities, not government, can and are fighting Covid-19

The heavy-handed, top-down approach during the lockdown has not worked; NGOs, coalitions and community networks haveSouth African National Defence Force soldiers patrol the streets in Yeoville and the inner city in Johannesburg, during the national lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19. Picture: ALON SKUY

In Khayelitsha, Cape Town, the Social Justice Coalition formed a community action network and mobilised to demand water tanks from the city — which actually arrived within a week. The CAN, too, organised teams to inform community members about how to respond to the pandemic. The broader CAN movement in Cape Town has expanded to play a similar role.

They were motivated by three overriding concerns: to strengthen community responses; ensure government responses did not exacerbate inequality and exclusion; and propose measures that would not only counter the immediate social and economic crisis, but also lay the foundations for a different kind of future.

These and other initiatives that are not part of the C19 People’s Coalition reveal a vibrant and resourceful set of movements and networks with deep roots in communities and workplaces. Yet despite efforts, and notwithstanding some ad hoc local collaborations, there has been no systematic engagement from a government which, it is increasingly clear, is too distant and disorganised to directly access communities and ameliorate desperation and social distress.

These have turned fatal in some cases — the death of Collins Khoza in Alexandra, who was allegedly assaulted by soldiers; the death of Sibusiso Amos in Vosloorus allegedly from the intervention of Ekurhuleni metro police and private security; and the Independent Police Investigative Directorate is now investigating the death of a man in Soweto, who was allegedly assaulted by police.

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