The virus in the queues

This article serves as part of an online project, curated by the critical theory journal, Thesis 11. The project is titled Living and Thinking Crisis. My contribution thinks through the everyday politics of queuing in a time of Covid.

The accompanying image is part of a Johannesburg-based graffiti series titled The Long Wait – by South Africa artist Faith47.

The works reference different types of waiting particular to a contemporary South African context.

Faith47 says: “Miners are waiting for justice. Workers are waiting for a living wage. People are waiting for service delivery. Refugees are waiting for assistance. Men are waiting for jobs. We are all waiting for an honest politician. So many people are waiting for others to do things first. To take the blame. To do things for them. To take the fall. To build the country. To admit defeat. There has been so much waiting in this country that much time has been lost.”