The year 2020 will never be forgotten in the history of South Africa, due to the deadly Covid-19 pandemic that brought the country (and most of the world) to a standstill. Unlike similar global epidemics and disasters in the past, such as the Smallpox of the late 18th and 19th century, the Spanish Flu of 2018/19, the Swine Flu of 2009/10, the Covid-19 pandemic has had (and continues to have) ravaging effects. What makes the effects of this pandemic distinct in South Africa, is that, for the first time in 26 years of democracy, citizens’ basic rights and freedoms—as enshrined in the constitution—have been limited or curtailed. The enjoyment of the many rights gained through the sacrifices made by our struggle legends, who fought tirelessly and even died in the struggle to overcome the brutal colonial and apartheid systems, has been compromised.

The South African constitution (RSA, 1996) states clearly that our democracy was founded on the values of human dignity, the achievement of equality and social justice, and the advancement of human rights and freedoms. Caught unprepared, the majority of citizens whose rights had been undermined for decades during colonialism and apartheid, and who had barely begun to enjoy these rights, had to unite in fighting an invisible yet deadly enemy. They had to sacrifice some of their needs and rights, and change the ways in which they conducted their normal lives, to prevent the spread of the virus that was beginning to ravage the nation and the economy. In this regard, Covid-19 lockdown was a true test of citizens’ devotion to safeguarding those hard-won freedoms.

The first Covid-19 case in South Africa was confirmed by the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (Nicid) on March 4, 2020, and the first death was recorded on March 27, 2020. Since then, the number of cases has been increasing, to the extent that, on March 15, 2020, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a state of disaster in the country. In his address, he pleaded with all citizens to “wage war” against the invisible enemy—Covid-19 (Brookes, 2020), which the World Health Organisation (WHO, 2020) describes as the enemy of humanity.