Pandemic solidarity and post-COVID-19 fragmentation: civil society’s shifting landscape in Cape Town

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.