Documentary film: “What am I going to eat tomorrow?” The impact of the 2020 pandemic on informal workers in Johannesburg

As part of its scientific and academic vocation, and in the context of the health crisis linked to the coronavirus, IFAS-Research has launched a collective research project with the aim of understanding the effects of the 2020 pandemic on informal workers in South Africa. To this end, in June 2020, IFAS-Research has called upon Dr. Chaymaa Hassabo, Associate Researcher at the Department of Sociology of the University of Johannesburg (UJ), to design and coordinate a field survey with a team of four young researchers from Southern Africa. Her ambition was to measure the social and economic effects of the pandemic on informal workers in the light of their life trajectories.

An idea emerged along the way: the production of a documentary film based on four filmed interviews. This documentary aims to give a voice to informal workers and to understand in a concrete way how the pandemic has impacted their daily lives. The film, produced by IFAS-Research in partnership with a Johannesburg production company (Black Gosling), gives a concrete and sensitive insight into their work and living conditions during the lockdown.

The documentary is available on the YouTube channel of IFAS-Research.

We wish you a nice viewing!