OPINION PIECE - A brown Casspir gleams in the warm Karoo evening sun. It blocks the view on the empty R61 just outside Aberdeen. An endless stream of taxis carries a constant flow of Western Cape workers back to their homelands in the Eastern Cape. Overnight, the number of corona infections double in their destinations. 

Corona has finally arrived in the Karoo.

On a remote farm in the dolerite hills of the Northern Cape, things have not changed much. Angora goats roam freely, the farmer is reaping a bumper crop of lucerne after the latest rains, life goes on. Only few things have changed: he now needs a permit to go into town. But his farmworkers are stuck here for lack of independent transport. Lockdown in the countryside is different from town dwellers’ claustrophobic experiences. Here in the Karoo, the sky is still high. Social distancing has always been part of their way of life. Isolation is nothing new for most Karoo inhabitants. People feel less exposed than people in the city, because of population density and distances.

Corona means different things for different people

When I first thought about corona in the Karoo, my mental picture was one of isolated farms happily spared from the virus by distance and remoteness. The Karoo, I thought, was so sparsely populated that the virus could hardly propagate there. In short: could the Karoo be the best place on earth to weather this “perfect storm”?

From the safety of my home quarantine in Germany, I talked to many people in the Karoo. I quickly realized that corona means different things and diverse conditions for distinctive people. Yes, there is the lonely farm, separated from the rest of the world, an almost ideal quarantine, well protected from the jumping virus. But farmers and farmworkers alike, they too have to go to town to get supplies. And even on a lonely farm, the stark differences that existed before will determine the way people respond now. The farm owner is still in control and can curtail or prohibit travel to and from the farm. Farmworkers depend on transport for supplies, now in corona times even more so than in normal periods.

Agriculture itself is deemed an “essential service”, so farmers can work, travel and trade, but only with permits. Luckily, the long drought has ended in most places, the veld is restoring, productivity is up. But the aftermath of six years of drought are still visible everywhere. Markets are now disrupted.

People in the small Karoo towns are somewhat better off. Lockdown is easier if you have a piece of land, a garden, or a courtyard. Supplies are more or less complete and social services nearby. But it is in the Karoo townships, where the impact of the virus is felt more than anywhere else. With income almost disappearing overnight, people find it hard to comply with essential conditions of the lockdown regime. Where water supplies are poor, hygiene becomes difficult. Cramped living quarters make lockdown horrible, even if you are not claustrophobic.

For social activists, conditions are also changing quickly. With almost no physical interaction with the vulnerable groups, social media and digital interaction with farm workers is difficult. But WhatsApp and other services are now almost everywhere and help to stay in touch.

Even the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT), the largest single optical telescope in the southern hemisphere, went offline and can now only be operated remotely.

The medicine may have worst side effects than the sickness it pretends to treat .

So far, the health impact of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been minimal in the Karoo. Despite increased testing the total tally of corona infections in the entire Northern Cape stands at only 16 cases (as of April 20). That is equal to only 12 cases per 1 million inhabitants. In the Western Cape, the tally is ten times higher and stands at 126 cases per Inhabitants, mostly in the Cape Town metropolis and the Winelands. Western Cape Karoo towns have virtually no infections (as of April 20).

But it is the fast increase in the Eastern Cape that is of grave concern. With the massive influx over Easter of travellers from Cape Town to “funerals” in the Eastern Cape, the numbers have virtually doubled overnight. No other province shows a faster increase. As all these travellers must come through the Karoo, and do so in overloaded taxis, the spread of the virus is set to increase further in all towns along the transit routes. Right now (April 20) the second wave of SARS-CoV-2 infections has reached South Africa, predominantly with huge increases in Eastern Cape!

Thus, even this seemingly neutral virus is reproducing the patterns of geographical Apartheid. Eastern Cape still functions as the poor homeland for poorly paid workers in the economic powerhouses of the nation. A sick economic system of unequal distribution of wealth and opportunities shapes the health outcomes of the current pandemic! Migrant labour and the gig system of casual labour are the breeding grounds for a public health disaster affecting the entire nation.

Municipal services are also severely affected by the lockdown since March 27. Most municipalities are unable to table their draft Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) and budgets. The extension of the lockdown will make them fall even further behind, so several non-compliance matters will be the result.

But the economic impacts on the Karoo population will probably be much harder. Even now, and with no reliable statistics at hand, the unemployment rate has jumped, putting more and more families at risk. Farm workers are laid off, the tourism industry is on its knees, and the little manufacturing of agricultural products has stopped completely. Transportation services are low, and social institutions are running out of supplies and resources. Increasingly it looks as if the medicine is harder than the disease it is designed to fight. People have more fear of hunger than infection. In the big townships militarization is taking its toll.

But by all measures, Karoo people take the corona challenge still easy. Many tell me the drought was more difficult, and its impacts will be still felt for a long time. Suddenly, there seems to be political stability as the country rallies behind its President, praised for his decisive action. Like everywhere else, people ask themselves: When will this lockdown end? How are we going to kickstart the economy back into action? And increasingly, people ask how civil liberties, so easily dismantled in these corona times, can be easily restored? Or will we see an even more dominating, imposing State in the aftermath?

After the virus is before the virus

One thing is clear from this global pandemic. The next virus is just around the corner! The return to “normality” cannot mean returning to the ways of the old that created the problem in the first place Becoming resilient to such global disruptions will be the key to success in the future. No longer will global supply chains be seen as something of an advantage! Surprisingly, few people discuss the opportunities for the Karoo that come with such a crisis. Clearly, there will be substantial costs associated. And the uncertainties weigh heavily on every individual, to a degree that one cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel… But as always in life, many crises come with challenges and opportunities. History tells us how several crises have ushered in new times, created space for new opportunities, challenged old paradigms. What could that be for the Karoo? Where are the voices that engage in this conversation?

Here are a few pointers from an outsiders point of view:

For starters, the corona crisis could herald in a new wave of ecotourism, marketing the Karoo as a “low-viral” destination. Customers will be more wary of global travel and enjoy safe and accessible domestic tourism targets. With improved access to broad-band internet services, small Karoo towns could become attractive hubs for digital work. There will be an acceleration of digital marketing channels. Companies that were used to global supply chains have learnt of their vulnerabilities and will look for improved local produce marketing. Impending business closures and downsizing will lead to unemployment on a massive scale. New job opportunities must arise from meaningful land reform and resettlement programs. Farmers with crops that are less time-sensitive like wool, leather or cotton are at an advantage, if supply chains fail. When the lockdown stops, power cuts will start again. A good chance for the Karoo to play out its vast potential for renewable energies. Labour relations will also change in post-Covid era. Farmers realise now how intimately their health and well-being is linked to the one of their farmworkers. There are plenty of opportunities galore and the time is now to start developing them as the country discusses the restart of its economy. Will the people of the Karoo rise to the opportunity?

This opinion piece was written by Dr. Stefan Cramer, who now resides in Germany, on 20 April