THE GREAT COVID-19 RACE DEBATE

South Africans came together as a nation when the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic first struck. Then, as the devastation of the pandemic deepened, we started drifting apart. We soon began clashing openly. As the virus tightened its grip, the discourse become more divisive. Issues around race and nationality emerged as a major fault line.

Now, with the crisis yet to peak, deliberate attempts to sow racial division, xenophobia and social discord are being fed into the national discourse.

Issues around race, identity and nationality have been discussed in more than 9 million social media conversations about Covid-19 since the lockdown began in March. More than 470 000 South Africans have engaged in the conversations, according to analysis by the Centre for Analytics and Behavioural Change at the University of Cape Town.

Here is how underlying issues of race played out on social media as the pandemic unfolded.

The three peaks indicate #BiancaMustFall, #BlackLivesMatter and #PutSouthAfricansFirst, respectively.

UNITING

In May, a few weeks into the national lockdown, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize’s tweet celebrating healthcare workers trended as social media users expressed their support and admiration for the way government was managing the crisis. Ordinary South Africans, companies and celebrities banded together to raise funds to fight Covid-19. The camaraderie united communities and brought people together.

An ongoing theme within the conversation on the lockdown regulations was concern for the treatment of vulnerable people, especially caring for the homeless. Members of opposing gangs in the Cape Flats called an unprecedented truce to help members of their community.

Many gestures of generosity brought diverse South Africans together, working in solidarity to support the needy in the face of an unprecedented health crisis. As the crisis grew through early May and resources became thinly spread, social tensions around issues of race, nationality and many underlying disparities began to surface, sometimes in conversations that were not directly related to Covid-19.

CLASHING

As the grip of the Covid-19 crisis tightened, narratives about race and nationality become more prevalent in social media conversations.

Miss SA entrant Bianca Schoombee withdrew from the competition after a