Covid-19 and lockdown in South Africa (video)

As lockdown under the state of national disaster enters its second week in South Africa workers and working class communities spoke to Elitsha about their fears and what the government should do. The South African Domestic Workers Union features in the video, raising concerns around what the lockdown means for domestic workers and also the impact the virus and the lockdown will have on the working conditions of one of the most vulnerable groups of workers in South Africa and around the world.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions in the Western Cape highlights how workers will suffer more than the propertied classes as a result of the lockdown.

According to activists, the lockdown and the coronavirus outbreak exacerbates and exposes the inequalities in South Africa. The government through the declaration of national disaster has been forced to grant mere handouts to the poor and deployed the army to keep them in check.