Following COVID-19's arrival, the South African government has implemented a restrictive state-led response to the pandemic, limiting infections along with the survival strategies of those at greatest risk of illness. While the country's aggressive tactics towards the epidemic have been lauded by some, the public health response has taken a violent turn towards the country's historically marginalized black population. How are we to make sense of the ruling African National Congress' decision to utilize the South African state's capacity for violence towards poor and working-class black urban communities? How can this disease response be contextualized within the broader arc of South African history?

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