Post-Covid 19 recovery and resilience in Cato Manor, Durban.

Abstract

The Coronavirus disease that has come to be popularly known as the Covid-19 pandemic has become more than a health crisis as it has exposed the vulnerabilities that exist in our country and within our communities. The declaration of the National State of Disaster was subsequently followed by the implementation of the national lockdown that commenced at midnight on the 26th of March 2020. As a country we quickly had to adapt to what was termed the “new normal”. We had to adapt to the mandatory wearing of face masks, curfews as well as the closure of schools for a longer period of time. The lockdown regulations put a limit of economic activities which threatened people’s livelihoods. The impact of these changes was unequally experienced amongst our societies and revealed the dire socio-economic conditions that our societies are faced with. This study explored the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in Cato Manor and the level of resilience of the residents from the pandemic shocks. This was done through conducting faceto-face interviews with twelve members of households in Cato Manor which falls under the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal. The qualitative methodology applied aimed to gain an in-depth insight into the residents’ experiences and realities during Covid-19. The study also aimed to get a sense of what the post-recovery phase would entail amongst the citizens in our communities. The responses to the questions posed to the were transcribed and analyzed with the aid of NVivo analysis software to generate codes and themes. From the findings it can be highlighted that the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated the plight of unemployment in Cato Manor, that was present prior to the pandemic, especially amongst the youth. The study also found that the pandemic had an impact on the informal businesses of Cato Manor. It can also be noted that Cato Manor residents relied on the social grants to prevent them from falling into poverty combined with the use of the newly introduced SRD grant which they relied on buy basic necessities. Moving away from the pandemic, the post-recovery plans for the residents include looking for and securing employment as well as starting up businesses and picking up those businesses that existed prior to the pandemic.