COVID-19: Violent Policing of Black Men During Lockdown Regulations in South Africa

Abstract

Drawing on media reports published during South Africa’s COVID-19 lockdown, this article argues that violent policing of black men in South African townships was driven by racial stereotypes which depict black men as unruly, defiant, violent and aggressive. Law enforcement officials’ use of violence is rooted within the social construct of hegemonic masculinities in which victims are positioned as villains, while law enforcement officials position themselves as heroes who are simply enforcing the rule of law. This article argues that the use of violence affirms law enforcement officials’ sense of manhood while undermining, shaming and marginalising young black men’s sense of manhood. Furthermore, the article posits that the lockdown regulations gave law enforcement officials additional power and authority, bolstered by the panic and fear associated with the risk of contracting COVID-19, to further criminalise young black men. Policing is not just a safety act but a gendered phenomenon which draws on other discourses of race and class in justifying certain acts of violence against poor, black working-class men.