The COVID-19 pandemic and its control measures had a devastating impact on household food security in South Africa, highlighting existing food injustice patterns such as spatial inequality, intersectionality, and uneven power relations. It also gave rise to a movement of charity and new solidarity alliances. This study, conducted by a consortium of five SLE study programme participants, community co-researchers, and civil society members from Cape Town and Berlin, used a co-research approach, a radical form of participatory action research, relying on local community cooperation. Research focused on five sites: four in the Cape Flats and one in St. Helena Bay. Data were collected in September 2020 using digital tools, face-to-face and remote interviews, images from residents, and mapping of local food outlets. The food insecurity experience scale (FIES) was used to assess household food security. Findings show food insecurity is influenced by location and intersectional factors. St. Helena Bay emerged as the most food-insecure site. Vulnerable households were often woman-headed, unemployed, large, or involved in the food system. The pandemic exposed limits to the constitutional right to food, with access, choice, and voice in the system being constrained. Urban agency increased slightly post-pandemic, especially among those in the food sector. Community kitchens emerged as a key solidarity solution but faced funding challenges. The study advocates for collaborative food governance through local food committees, which foster circular economies and increase agency. Despite challenges, the crisis enabled communities to seek solidarity and advocate for systemic change toward long-term food security.