A Reflection of Community Dilemmas Driven by the Advent of Coronavirus in Eclectic Rural Contexts in South Africa
Ntombophelo Sithole-Tetani 
, Andile Qotoyi & Simon Murote Kang’ethe
Issue: Vol.5 No.11 Issue Article 10 pp.1747-1756
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.202451110 | Published online 5th September, 2024
© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
In the 2020-2021 epoch, South Africa faced the arduous challenge of fighting COVID-19 due to limited resources. This paper reflects how the disease affected communities in eclectic rural contexts in South Africa. This article applied a review of the literature methodology. The researchers drew their literature from journal articles, book chapters, and informal community conversations amid the researchers’ experiential intuition. The article reflects that South African rural communities faced coronavirus-driven dilemmas due to the following factors: Society being subjected to conflicting messages, a state of stigma and stigmatisation, misleading information packaging, fear associated with failure to understand the disease’s aetiology and epidemiology; and states of poverty associated with loss of several business closures and termination of employment; the phenomenon of myths and misinformation; scepticisms and conspiracies; as well as a manifestation of various forms of love deficit. This article recommends that social service professionals such as psychologists, counsellors, and social workers be on the frontline to conduct psychotherapeutic education to communities to build their resilience to fight the coronavirus. The study provides scientific data on the historical glimpse of the impact of pandemics in rural communities of South Africa. It prepares societies for other pandemics that may come in the future.
Keywords: Community Dilemmas, Coronavirus, Myths, Entrepreneurial Spirit, Fear.
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Ntombophelo Sithole-Tetani is working as a Lecturer in the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences, Walter Sisulu University. She holds a BA degree in Psychology, Honours in Psychology, and an MA in Psychology from Walter Sisulu University. She is concluding her PhD in Psychology. She also holds a diploma in Psychological Counselling. She also holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Psychological Counselling (PGDip) at the University of KwaZulu Natal. She is also a registered psychological counsellor She has also been involved in a community engagement programme focusing on COVID-19 awareness in 2020. Her research interests are in issues of parenting, children, female health and mental health, HIV, and Autism. She has also supervised many students for their honours in Psychology.
Andile Qotoyi Andile Qotoyi is working as a Lecturer in the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences of Walter Sisulu University. He teaches several modules in Psychology and Industrial Psychology. He holds a Bachelor of. Administration in Personnel Management, a BCom Honours degree in Industrial Psychology, and a Master of Arts in Industrial Psychology from Unitra and Walter Sisulu University. Qotoyi has been a member of some Senate-approved committees. He has published some papers on COVID-19 and is writing some in GBV, etc. His other research interests are in Motivation, leadership and Stress management. He has supervised many students for their honours in Psychology.
Simon Murote Kang’ethe works as a full Social Work Professor at Walter Sisulu University. He is also a C2 NRF-rated researcher focusing on culture, health, children, social enterprises, and geriatrics. He has supervised close to fifty master’s and PhD students and has authored many book chapters. He has authored more than 200 journal papers.
Sithole-Tetani, Ntombophelo, Andile Qotoyi & Simon Murote Kang’ethe. “A Reflection of Community Dilemmas Driven by the Advent of Coronavirus in Eclectic Rural Contexts in South Africa,” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 5, no.11 (2024):1747-1756. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.202451110
© 2024 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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