Social Dimensions of COVID-19 in South Africa: A Neglected Element of the Treatment Plan

Abstract

Notwithstanding moments of shared elation – Nelson Mandela’s triumphant release from prison 30 years ago, those halcyon weeks in 2010 when we were hosts to the Soccer World Cup, or more recently Siya Kolisi’s diverse team of players overcoming enormous odds to achieve a global rugby victory – the unity and transcendence of the rainbow nation largely have eluded us. While a pandemic is not the occasion to point fingers, it does expose the structural fault lines that undermine social cohesion. In “normal” times, these fissures are mostly tucked away safely in the recesses of our national collective consciousness. It is as if the virus, anthropomorphised, has pulled back the veil, baring the naked truth of our imperfect realities. There is no place to hide; and, to be totally honest, we are afraid.