| ####

11 / 36

11 / 36

Quality of political leadership

Our politicians have responded well to the challenge.

This is in sharp contrast to the policy indecision

that characterised the national response to the HIV/

AIDS problem in the 1990s. However, South Africa

is woefully underprepared in terms of infrastructure.

Implementation of the physical-distancing measures

is nearly impossible given the living and transport

infrastructure available for most black South Africans.

The threat to cultural creative sectors

The impact on cultural and creative sectors is

immense. Multinational companies as well as small

companies and freelance professionals essential for

the sector are facing an uncertain future. This crisis

creates a structural threat to the survival of many

firms and workers in cultural and creative production.

The availability of cultural content contributes to the

mental health and wellbeing of our population, and

many cultural institutions have provided online and

free content in recent weeks for that purpose. All of

this is under threat.

The fragility of the South African

economy

Lastly, and more significantly, the impact on the South

African economy, already relegated to junk status by

major rating agencies, will be immense. My fear is that

we might not have an economy after this pandemic.

The IMF might have to assist us to put the pieces

together.

Staff members reflect…

Mbali Mkhize, Senior Director:

Marketing and Communications

My first observation, even before the University took

an early recess, was how quickly we were all adapting

to the elbow greeting. South Africans in general,

depending on age, greet by shaking hands or giving

each other a hug. It was quite endearing to see

students doing elbow greetings and laughing about

that. It showed that while the elbow may not be so

intimate, the camaraderie between people still exists.

Never before has the world seen so much washing

of hands. Someone commented jokingly that even

Pontius Pilate never washed his hands so many times.

The washing of hands has always been sacrosanct.

Even in church, priests wash hands before serving

bread. In the public health sector, the washing of hands

is what health professionals have been advocating

for many years. Many infections are transmitted by

hands, and this marks a watershed moment where we

take hygiene back into our lives.

The social distancing part is heartbreaking for many

families. Many are used to spending weekend lunches

together. While it was brutal at the beginning, my

sister came up with an idea that the family could

still be ‘together’ on Sundays. We agreed that we

would wake up to attend a virtual mass together

through live streaming. Being in different provinces

and even abroad for some family members, we felt

this togetherness as we prayed together. Six hours

later, we would then live-stream family dinners. We

would all agree on a recipe the day before and as

we live-streamed our dinners, we would joke about

whose presentation looks best. This has been a true

communion for us and we hope that we will continue

to do this beyond the lockdown. We have had to

get together as families virtually and started paying

attention to one another.

9

M U T

S P I R I T

/ /

J A N U A R Y - M A R C H 2 0 2 0

Mbali Mkhize