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S P I R I T
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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: