Pandemic solidarity and post-Covid-19 fragmentation
Civil society’s shifting landscape in Cape Town
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21540943 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Doruk Işıkçı (University of Cape Town, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Pages | 1-17 |
| Publication date | 2025-12-05 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Development Southern Africa (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0376-835X • E-ISSN: 1470-3637 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/0376835x.2025.2592820 |
| OpenAlex | W4417030219 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 25 |
This article examines the relationships, dynamics, and shifting landscape of civil society organisations (CSOs) in Cape Town during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on interviews, participant observation, and document analysis in the neighbourhoods of Muizenberg and Vrygrond/Capricorn, the study investigates how CSOs rapidly mobilised to address food insecurity and social needs, filling gaps in the state’s social protection response. While the achievements of CSOs during the crisis highlighted their vital position within the social safety net and raised hope for societal change, the post-pandemic period exposed structural divisions and inequalities among CSOs. The paper argues that differences in organisational scale and formalisation produced starkly uneven post-pandemic outcomes, with large-scale CSOs expanding their influence while others dissolved or struggled to sustain their activities. The decline in volunteerism and donations, growing dependency, asymmetric power relations, and emerging tensions have undermined the horizontal solidarity that had united diverse actors during the pandemic
Cape · Civil society · Colonialism · Pandemic · Solidarity · Local Economic Development and Planning · South African History and Culture · Urban Planning and Governance
“… It is like it has come up and stole our lives from us” The first 21 days
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Building Resilience
The role of civil society organizations (CSOs) in the Covid-19 response across the Global South
NGOs, civil society and democratization
The Relationship between Government and Civil Society in the Era of Covid-19
Civil Society after Democracy
Responding to Covid-19 in South Africa – social solidarity and social assistance
Global Civil Society Response to the Covid-19 Crisis
South Africa’s lockdown regulations and the reinforcement of anti-informality bias
NGOs, States, and Donors Revisited
Lockdown, resilience and emergency statecraft in the Cape Town food system
Every loaf of bread is political – Reflections on collective care responses to Covid-19 in Cape Town
State-Civil Society Relations in Post-Apartheid South Africa
Thematic Analysis
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |