2.2. Lockdown in Townships

Lockdown in Townships

Centrality of the street

Townships in South Africa refer ordinarily to areas that were formerly designated for black African residents under the Apartheid regime. Historically created to function as segregated residential areas for the marginalized black African population, townships are still broadly considered to be socially, spatially and economically marginalized. Statistically, township areas still feature high rates of multi-dimensional vulnerability, especially when compared to other historically suburban residential areas. The GCRO Quality of Life survey4, which tracks a multidimensional range of indicators relating to quality of life – including social, economic, household, connectivity, access to infrastructure, work, and sociopolitical attitudes – offers a useful representation of the developments in quality of life across various geographic wards in the Province. From these surveys, it is apparent that former township areas still have lower quality of life scores than their suburban counterparts, even though the dynamics within and between township wards also vary (see also (Perbedy et al., 2017).

Over time, however, township areas have also changed and diversified in their social and spatial template, and therefore present markedly different characteristics. This includes stark inequality within townships between middle-class and poorer areas. The diversity within and between townships has been apparent and documented in literature, from the apartheid years into the post-apartheid period (Bonner & Segal, 1998; Harrison & Harrison, 2014). This diversity was also evident from our diaries, where respondents provided narratives from Soweto and Alexandra in Johannesburg, Kagiso in the West Rand/Krugersdorp area, and Mamelodi West and Mabopane in Tshwane.

One marker of the differences within and between township residents’ diaries and experiences was in the unit size, and living arrangements during the Level-5 lockdown. While all our township participants were locked down in a free-standing house, with access to a yard, the unit size and number of rooms varied. Anonymous (35) from Kagiso, for instance, was locked down in a house that had 7 rooms, and living with one other person during the lockdown, while another Anonymous participant (30) from Moroka in Soweto, reported that she was living in a one-room unit with over 7 family members. All but one township participant had access to water, electricity, and access to a yard or garden. All participants from townships were locked down in households of more than one person, mainly with family members. Three out of the nine participants in townships were living with more than 7 household members comprising of immediate and extended family. This represented the largest share across all participants.

One of the notable themes from township participant diary entries was the prevalence of street observations as part of daily life. From our surveys, it was apparent that the street and street activity was prevalent even before the lockdown. During the Level-5 lockdown, despite residents being required to remain indoors, street life and activity was still reported. This was reported as an issue of concern by Precious (19) in Mamelodi and Anonymous (35) in Kagiso.

Day 1 27 March 2020 Mamelodi West

“Residents of Mamelodi are carrying out their normal activities as usual. It seems as if people are not willing to comply to any of the rules enforced by the president. I don’t know if it’s ignorance or is it because no one around them has yet experienced the virus. ”

Imperial Borders (2020)

Day 3 29 March, 2020 Mabopane

“I also went out of the house for the first time since the lockdown/quarantine. Went out to buy some bread and I can confirm that our local spaza shops are open and that the streets are quieter than normal, but I saw a couple of people roaming around and a couple of kids playing in the streets. ”

Day 4 30 March, 2020 Kagiso - Nathi (25)

“When we finally got to my township. It didn’t feel like a lockdown. People were moving around. I would say older people have adhered to the lockdown; hence the majority of the people are indoors. It was young men who were on the streets. The ‘nyaope’ boys, as we call them, were in their regular corners. Other young men were playing soccer. Others were walking in groups. The visibility of youth unemployment in the country is embodied through young men sitting in street corners of my township or occupying roads as a collective.”

- Anonymous (35)

The prevalence of street-life and street activity in townships, however, warranted a more nuanced reading. From our survey, we could establish that prior to the lockdown, a more diverse range of street activities were observed in township areas than in suburban and inner-city neighborhoods. 6 out of 9 township participants shared that before the lockdown, the streets outside their residence were busy during the week and on weekends, with children playing, people socializing, jogging, and selling goods. Survey participants noted similar observations of activity on the street during the lockdown Level-5 (see Annexure 2 for detailed survey findings).

The frequency and rate of observed activity however varied from day to day, and from participant to participant. From Mabopane, Nathi suggested that there was greater movement and activity observed on days when pensioners and old people had to go collect grants at the post office:

Day 5 31 March, 2020 Mabopane

“There was a lot of movement in the streets today as most people got paid and pensioners were going to collect their grant money. People were moving up and down with groceries and this made way for kids to play in the streets as there were a lot of kids moving around and playing all over the streets. ”

- Nathi (24)

Safety First (2020)

Day 8 03 April, 2020 Kagiso

Another notable aspect of diary entries from residents in townships were the observations of intermittent police and army activity, although the intensity of activity varied from township to township. In Kagiso, Anonymous (35) reflected on the lack of police or soldiers in the neighborhood while Nan (28), a resident of Diepkloof who worked in Roodepoort reported observing police patrols on a daily basis. In Moroka, the police were observed at least 5 times, and army presence was observed 3-4 times overall. In Alexandra, our participant observed police only once or twice in total, though they saw the army at least once throughout the Level-5 lockdown period. Although intermittent, the pattern of patrols and policing is markedly distinct from the rare police presence in suburban areas, and the heavy-handed policing of inner city participants, discussed in Section 2.4. Diary entries from the townships of Kagiso and Mamelodi also shared how policing included patrols to make public service announcements to urge residents to remain indoors – patrols not made reference to in diaries from other areas.

“One significant activity that occurred in our township was the arrival of the public safety officials. A car from the Mogale City Public Safety Dept, with two officers inside, with a loudhailer, drove around our areas pleading with people to stay inside their yard. Children who were outside playing we instructed to go inside their house. Throughout its patrol, it was pleading with the community to obey the lockdown rule. Apart from these officials, there are no police nor soldiers on the streets. ”

Day 19 14 April, 2020 Mamelodi West

“Today in Mamelodi, police were actually making rounds this whole day warning people to go home or else they’ll be arrested. I must say I’m glad they’re doing something about all the people roaming in the streets, not knowing where they’re even going to start off with! I’m glad the police are working but I’m also disappointed in society. It didn’t need to escalate to the point where police need to make threats in order for the people to listen to what the president had announced. No!! People should learn to comply on their own without being forced, we need to listen and think about our own health.”

- Precious (19)

Day 4 30 March, 2020 Soweto Queues, Queues, and more Queues

In our analysis of township participant diaries, we also observed the prevalence of queues in township malls and shopping areas, that were intertwined with queues for social grants5. With the COVID-19 lockdown, residents were confined to their immediate residential areas, and modes of transportation were restricted. Three township diary entries illustrated how shopping centres within the proximity of residents’ homes and neighbourhods, which housed big retailers, centralised and concentrated grocery shopping. Two diary entries also made reference to queues outside post offices, which are hubs for the collection of social grants. Arguably, these queues for essential goods and services are not only representative of historically higher population densities in townships than suburbs, but continued socioeconomic disparities.

Participants from townships shared their encounters with queues while trying to access essential amenities, both during and after the 35-day data collection period. One participant related her visit to a local mall at the end of the month within a few days of lockdown, observing long queues for grocery stores and the collection of social grants at the post office. Diary entries about these queues from Soweto, Mamelodi and Kagiso expressed particular concern about the toll these took on elderly people, and the lack of social distancing.

“So, there was a lot of moving today to be honest, of which I didn’t expect. And my mom wanted to buy some few things at Pick-n-Pay, and we thought ‘let’s go to Maponya Mall.’ When we go there – it was crazy! Uhm, the line was long! Yoh! The queue was very long and the post office as well because the old people and the disabled people were getting aid there, obviously – they were getting their grants there. Oh my gosh; there was no social distancing at all. We went back home. We couldn’t get inside so we thought ‘no, let’s just go back.”

Day 41 06 May, 2020 Diepkloof - Nomsa (39)

“I’m off today and I had to buy a few toiletries from the shops. I have never seen the mall so full you’d swear we went from level 5 to 1! I felt so sorry for people who can’t stand up too long really it scared me to stay in the queue for so long, so I decided to go back home. I’ll wait until the 10th to get more stuff. Poor elderly people I can’t even begin to imagine what they are going through. This is all too much for them, if only goods could be delivered to their homes.”

Day 23 18 April , 2020 Kagiso

...today we are in Kagiso mall. In our small mall in Kagiso. So we are standing in the line. People they want to get inside the mall to buy things. To buy like groceries, but we can’t cause, the people that’s block the gate, they want the bribe so that we can buy food inside. So we having here the pregnant ladies and the old people in the line. Eish it’s not nice. It’s not nice to see somebody who’s pregnant in a line, but they don’t understand.

- Anonymous (32)

Day 4 30 March, 2020 Kagiso

Anonymous (35) in Kagiso, in describing her experience in escorting her mother to collect a pension grant, observed lengthy queues and limited social distancing outside of a local post office.

It was an eventful day. I woke up at 5:00, so I can take my mom to collect her pension grant from the Post Office. Indeed at 5:30, we were on the road to town. When we got there, already about 20 people were queueing. After an hour and a half of waiting, with over 100 people queueing, the post office opened at 7:00. A white woman with a blue mask started to pull chairs from the post office and to line them up 2 meters apart. It was about 30 chairs, she then instructed a mass of old people who were not at all doing social distancing during their wait to start doing by sitting on those chairs. Thirty or so people at the time, sat at the chairs, then 15 at a time were permitted inside the post office to collect their person.

Although they did not practice social distance, most of the pensioners had either gloves or masks on. Most of the conversations were around the virus or the lockdown. As they enter the post office, they would put sanitizers on their hand. The point is hundreds of social grants receiver only started to practice social distance when they were closer to the entry of the post office and inside. The reality is that the queues were too long and people wanted their money. There was no one available beyond the chairs to guard people on how to do the social distance in an extremely long queue.

- Anonymous (35)

The theme of waiting thus emerged as a notable theme from many of the township diary entries during the lockdown, whether waiting was observed or directly experienced. This included waiting to enter major retail shops, waiting to access social grants, and, in one diary entry, waiting for urgent medical care. Anonymous (32) in Kagiso, on Day 9, relayed how a prolonged wait for an ambulance services led to their pregnant neighbor losing their baby:

Day 9 4 April, 2020 Kagiso

Oh, in our street yesterday we was having a pregnant lady who struggled to find the… the ambulance. Actually, [s]he got the pains from labor. So his pains started around six or seven, somewhere there. He called – she called the ambulance. When she called the ambulance, the ambulance delay. In that way, ambulance come around twelve o clock. So the lady, she lose the baby because of that, because of the delay. She was alone in the house; nobody to help. But, the only way was for him to call the ambulance but instead the ambulance delay because this – because of this twenty one days.

- Anonymous (32)

The Monopoly Home (2020)

Observations of waiting and the centrality of street life marked the experience of lockdown in townships. Even where township participants used private vehicles to get around – the street still featured in their diaries as more than simply a conduit for cars, and as an important place for play. There were signs however, of a differentiated township lockdown experience - not only between townships, but within townships. The diary entries of Anonymous (26) from Alexandra focused on her experience working from home, in a house with 6-rooms and a yard which she shared with three others. Her daily observations during lockdown were not of the army and acts of violence, in spite of these being a feature of the lockdown in parts of Alexandra (Sparks, 2020; Rampedi et al, 2020). Diary entries and surveys pointed to a varying frequency and intensity of patrols in townships by public safety officials, police and the army. However, patrols were visible - unlike the absence of state surveillance and patrols in suburban areas.