Long Street. Normally one of the busiest commercial streets in central Cape Town.

Far from the city centre, in the area of the Cape Flats, where Black communities were moved during apartheid, basic health protocols such as hand washing and social distancing are not an option in some areas.

The City of Cape Town created shelters for thousand of homeless people. The shelters, however, did not have proper conditions and many complained of being overcrowded and being taken there by force. After much criticism, the city closed them down in May.

Around 600 migrants from different African countries had been using the Central Methodist Church in Cape Town as a shelter, since October 2019. The area is also home to a tourist craft market in Greenmarket Square. During the first days of lockdown the police raided the church, evicted the migrants and relocated them to a shelter in the outskirts of the city, arguing security and health reasons. The shelters have very poor conditions. The migrants have been requesting to be sent back to their country as in South Africa the are often victims of xenophobic violence and xenophobic policies.

Around 600 migrants from different African countries had been using the Central Methodist Church in Cape Town as a shelter, since October 2019. The area is also home to a tourist craft market in Greenmarket Square. During the first days of lockdown the police raided the church, evicted the migrants and relocated them to a shelter in the outskirts of the city, arguing security and health reasons. The shelters have very poor conditions. The migrants have been requesting to be sent back to their country as in South Africa the are often victims of xenophobic violence and xenophobic policies.

Migrant shelter, Belville. Around 600 migrants from different African countries had been using the Central Methodist Church in Cape Town as a shelter, since October 2019. The area is also home to a tourist craft market in Greenmarket Square. During the first days of lockdown the police raided the church, evicted the migrants and relocated them to a shelter in the outskirts of the city, arguing security and health reasons. The shelters have very poor conditions. The migrants have been requesting to be sent back to their country as in South Africa the are often victims of xenophobic violence and xenophobic policies.

Migrant shelter, Belville. Around 600 migrants from different African countries had been using the Central Methodist Church in Cape Town as a shelter, since October 2019. The area is also home to a tourist craft market in Greenmarket Square. During the first days of lockdown the police raided the church, evicted the migrants and relocated them to a shelter in the outskirts of the city, arguing security and health reasons. The shelters have very poor conditions. The migrants have been requesting to be sent back to their country as in South Africa the are often victims of xenophobic violence and xenophobic policies.

Migrant shelter, Belville. Around 600 migrants from different African countries had been using the Central Methodist Church in Cape Town as a shelter, since October 2019. The area is also home to a tourist craft market in Greenmarket Square. During the first days of lockdown the police raided the church, evicted the migrants and relocated them to a shelter in the outskirts of the city, arguing security and health reasons. The shelters have very poor conditions. The migrants have been requesting to be sent back to their country as in South Africa the are often victims of xenophobic violence and xenophobic policies.

Roadblocks. Travel and movement was only allowed for essential workers and services.

The army was deployed to enforce the lockdown. In the first few days a man named Collins Khoza died when he was beaten up by soldiers in the Alexandra township in Johannesburg.

Police enters an area of Makhaza in the township of Khayelitsha to evict people who have erected homes with tin and wood. On Easter Sunday the police destroyed 160 homes despite a National moratorium on evictions during the lockdown. The people resisted. And they were met with tear gas and stun grenades.

The community of Makhaza in Khayelitsha rebuilds their homes after they were destroyed by police. After legal action, the City of Cape Town had to return some of the materials the took during the evictions.

Frontline. Health workers at mobile testing units in Delft, in the Cape Flats.

Groote Schuur hospital. One of the first Covid testing centres in the city was setup here. As CapeTown became the epicentre, its ICU beds quickly reached their limits. Staff tested positive. And thousands of people across the country have stopped going to work, arguing that they do not have proper safety conditions and protection equipment.

Frontline. Health workers at mobile testing units in Delft, in the Cape Flats. Covid is not the first pandemic South Africa fights. It has been one the most affected countries by HIV. Lessons have been learned from that experience. In the 1990s the government denied the magnitude of the pandemic, costing thousands of lives. Later, mobile clinics and testing units were part of the response to the epidemic. They are now being used in the context of Covid 19. A large part of the population in South Africa has been affected by HIV and Tuberculosis. This, together with malnutrition and the cold winter weather, are conditions increasing the risks for many people during the pandemic.

Awareness campaigns. Also a strategy adapted from the HIV pandemic. Delft, Cape Flats.

Awareness campaigns. Also a strategy adapted from the HIV pandemic. Delft, Cape Flats.

Fishermen and fish vendors were able to work during the lockdown. In Kalk Bay, in the Cape Peninsula, business is slow. Few customers show up. Fishers were included in the essential workers category. The lockdown forced many to rethink what is essentials. What products, what workers, what services, what movements were essential. In Langebaan, north of Cape Town, fishers received food parcels from the government as aid. They complained that the food was not balanced, sufficient, and that it was a once-off bag of food that would not last for the whole lockdown, or not even a week. Fishers were included in the essential workers category.

Solidarity. The Kasi RC theatre in Khayelitsha had to close down during the lockdown. It was transformed into a soup kitchen, a classroom where kids could study while the schools were closed, a safe space for awareness to prevent Covid. Khayelitsha has been one of the hardest hit areas in the country. Kasi RC feeds a thousand kids weekly thanks to donations, in an area where the lockdown has made the poverty levels deeper.

Solidarity. The Kasi RC theatre in Khayelitsha had to close down during the lockdown. It was transformed into a soup kitchen, a classroom where kids could study while the schools were closed, a safe space for awareness to prevent Covid. Khayelitsha has been one of the hardest hit areas in the country.

Peter Wageenar, a neighbour of the upmarket neighbourhood of Mouille Point, decided to feed many of the homeless people that live in the promenade along the ocean in Cape Town during the lockdown. The homeless people were some of the first to feel the immediate impact of the deserted city as the lockdown was imposed. Wagenaar's car was torched by neighbours who were against his sense of solidarity. His burnt car became a symbol of solidarity and attracted dozens of people who joined his cause with donations and helping hands. Wagenaar, a businessman and former chef, prepares a different menu each day for the homeless.

Justin, a homeless man and former gang member, has been helping Peter Wagenaar donating food to homeless people since the beginning of the lockdown. The homeless people were some of the first to feel the immediate impact of the deserted city as the lockdown was imposed.

Juice ready to be distributed among the homeless people living in the promenade. During lockdown, the area normally packed with tourists and mostly white people exercising, was freely occupied by the dozens of homeless people who live in the area.

Surrounded by mountains, valleys and oceans, Cape Town has a wide range of outdoor activities. The lockdown stopped them immediately. After two months of tight lockdown, one of the first measures to relax the lockdown was the possibility to exercise between 6 and 9am.

Surrounded by mountains, valleys and oceans, Cape Town has a wide range of outdoor activities. The lockdown stopped them immediately. After two months of tight lockdown, one of the first measures to relax the lockdown was the possibility to exercise between 6 and 9am.

Members of the Somali diaspora in Cape Town bury Adbul Adnaan, a 35 year-old driver and shopkeeper killed in the area of Philipi in the Cape Flats. Somalis are often targets of xenophobic violence in South Africa. They often run shops in the townships and besides xenophobia they face extortion from local gangs, community leaders and the authorities. More than ten Somalis and their Malawian assistants were shot in separate incidents in the first half of June. During the month of Ramadan and during the toughest weeks of the lockdown, Somali shopkeepers joined to go to the townships and donate food to the people who were needing it the most.

The protests in support to the #BlackLivesMatter movement found an echo in South Africa. The country has a long history of institutional racism and structural violence, legacy of decades of apartheid regime. Police violence and impunity are common place and the demonstrations for George Floyd remembered the Marikana massacre in 2012 where the police killed 34 miners during a strike. Collins Khoza was killed by soldiers in Johannesburg during the first days of lockdown. At least 12 more people died in police custody. 230 thousand people were arrested for violating lockdown rules.