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3

M U T

S P I R I T

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S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 0

In South Africa, death, job losses in many industries

including tourism, and a severe impact on academic

programmes, are just some of the many negative

results of the virus and associated lockdown, and a

constant reminder of how badly the world has been

affected by this pandemic.

The global number of positive cases to date is

close to 27 million, with nearly a million deaths

arising from it. In South Africa, we are approaching

15 000 deaths from over 630 000 infections.

One day, we will talk about how global leadership

could have done more to limit the spread of the

coronavirus. We will talk about how we could have

played our part in coming up with solutions to either

prevent its spread or to fight it using our research,

and how families could have taken leadership roles to

keep the virus away from their homes.

For now, let us talk about the importance of

communication during the pandemic. The University

stuck to key messages that the WHO had outlined as

effective in curbing the spread of COVID-19, namely:

Wash or sanitise your hands frequently;

Maintain a two-metre social distance; and

Wear a mask.

Naturally, change in behaviour takes time – yet there

is no time to waste! We are aware of this fact when

we communicate, which is why we use multichannel

communication strategies to get the message across

effectively. Oneof the focus areas inour communication

plans is the people who have contracted the virus off

campus, whether at home, in shopping centres or

while travelling.

We have not reached a level of perfect communication,

but we are doing enough to help our University “to

save lives and save the academic year”. This was a

clarion call by our Minister for Higher Education and

Training, Science and Innovation, the Honourable

Blade Nzimande.

In line with our COVID-19 communication plan,

we have used our multi-channel communications

to repeat the message in different ways to different

constituencies, while using story-telling in order to

raise awareness and deliver a strong call-to-action

with the aim of keeping people safe from COVID-19.

As part of this, we used the story of ‘Khovy’ and

‘Mpilo’, a COVID-19 villain and hero.

Getting the message across

to “save lives and save the

academic year”

Since March this year, the world has experienced a

rude awakening as countries that were epicentres of

commerce in the Marco Polo era became epicentres

of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. In an effort to

stop its spread, nation after nation went on to isolate

itself and its people from each other – making 2020 a

year everyone will remember for its unpredictability,

disruption and loss.

Mbali Mkhize, Senior Director,

Marketing and Communications

Op-Ed: