When the COVID-19 pandemic hit South Africa in March 2020, everyone thought that the year of lockdowns, masks, and sanitisers would be like no other. We were in for a nasty surprise. 2021 wasn’t much better. It proved to be our first full year under COVID-19 restrictions, with more job losses, hospitalisations, and deaths (almost 90 000 in total for the country). Days and months melded into one another – the year has seemed like one interminable Tuesday.
On 6 January, thousands of angry Donald Trump supporters gathered in Washington DC to protest against what they saw as the fraudulent election of Joe Biden. Egged on by Trump, they stormed the United States Capitol where Congress was scheduled to certify Biden’s victory. Ugly scenes of violence in the very symbol of American constitutional democracy were broadcast around the world. Five people died. President Trump subsequently survived a second impeachment vote. Like 9/11, the date “January 6th” has entered the language as a shortcut for the astounding events of that day.
In March, global trade was disrupted after the giant container ship the Ever Given was wedged in the Suez Canal for six days. And in April, Israel witnessed the tragic death of 45 people at Mount Meron during a Lag B’Omer celebration stampede.
In May, protests in Jerusalem over planned evictions and violence on the Temple Mount triggered 12 days of fighting with Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza. More than 4 400 rockets were fired at Israel, which retaliated by hitting Palestinian targets in Gaza through Operation Guardian of the Walls. This was yet another bloody conflict with the extremists ruling Gaza since Israel unilaterally left the territory in 2005.
After four inconclusive elections in two years, Israeli politicians were finally able to hammer out a coalition agreement in June. Naftali Bennett unseated Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister, even though Bennett’s Yamina party won only seven out of 120 Knesset seats. If the government survives, Bennett is meant to cede the post of prime minister to Yesh Atid’s Yair Lapid in 2023.
In South Africa in July, former President Jacob Zuma was found guilty of contempt towards the Zondo Commission on State Capture, and was sent to prison. This ignited ten days of deadly riots in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng in the worst violence since the end of apartheid. About 342 people died from the unrest, and thousands of shops were looted and destroyed, with the damages estimated to be at least R50 billion. Conspiracy theories continue to swirl around these attacks. Zuma was controversially released on medical parole, but still faces corruption charges for the arms deal in the 1990s.
By 30 August, all United States troops had pulled out of Afghanistan, after 20 years of fighting in a country grimly dubbed “the graveyard of empires”. It left many wondering what had actually been achieved, as the Taliban rapidly overran the country in September. The economic situation has rapidly deteriorated, and questions have been raised about the US’s diminished global power and reach.
In spite of the pandemic, South Africans went to the polls on 1 November in local government elections. The turnout was poor at just eight million of 26.2 million registered voters. The African National Congress (ANC) dipped well below 50% for the first time, with 47.52% of the national vote, and more than 70 councils had to form multiparty governing coalitions. The smaller parties picked up support at the expense of the ANC and the Democratic Alliance.
In what’s sure to stump trivia addicts in decades to come, many sports events originally meant to have been held in 2020 took place in 2021. These included the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, the 2020 EUFA European Championship (won by Italy against England on penalties), and the 2020 Ryder Cup golf showdown, where the US beat Europe emphatically. The Springboks triumphed 2-1 in the rugby series against the British and Irish Lions in empty stadia because of COVID-19, and by the end of the year, regained the top spot in world rugby rankings. The Proteas – sigh, yet again – failed miserably in the T20 Cricket World Cup in October-November.
It wasn’t just sporting events that played catch-up. The 2020 Eurovision Song Contest, the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), and Expo 2020 in the United Arab Emirates were all held in 2021.
Key anniversaries commemorated included 75 years of the United Nations, 30 years since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and 10 years since the Arab Spring.
This has been a year that we want to put behind us. We hold out hope that in 2022, we will finally experience a return to something approaching normality if COVID-19 is contained.
- Steven Gruzd is a political analyst at the South African Institute of International Affairs in Johannesburg. He writes in his personal capacity.
