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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.
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Mbali Mkhize