The View Point

As the race to find the cure for COVID 19 continues, the Malagasy government has come forward with what they have claimed to be the cure and critical intervention in combatting the virus on the continent. There is a growing number of countries that have openly supported COVID-Organics within the AU. Whilst many international institutions have dismissed the product as a cure, it sheds light on how...

Along with not being given PPE or guidelines for best practices for seeing clients, traditional healers feel they have been excluded from the national response to Covid-19. Despite millions of people making use of them in South Africa, traditional healers claim government has sidelined them. In the past, healers partnered with government to treat HIV and TB successfully by being trained to identif...

We’re in conversation with the South African Youth Council, talking about their views on how government has dealt with the issue of the youth when addressing Covid-19. They feel that government ministers have been somewhat uncooperative and not willing to allow all stakeholders to have their say. They also say that NEDLAC has a bigger role to play in these Covid times, but government is not giving...

The Congress of South Africa Trade Unions has joined the call for government to scale down to level 3 as soon as possible. COSATU said the Covid-19 pandemic had deepened the economic crisis with restrictions on several businesses. While a labour union is calling on the reopening of economic activities and workplaces, there are several companies that have seen protest action for not being able to p...

The public health crisis of Covid-19, requiring citizens to be vigilant about hygiene measures like hand sanitizing, has not only turned the spotlight on the need for people to take personal responsibility for their health, but also the basic human right of access to healthcare. It has shown that health insecurity affects everyone and as a country, we have an opportunity to put in place all the re...

The South African Medical Technology Industry Association (SAMED), together with the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA), is working on educating suppliers of essential Covid-19 products on applicable standards for quality, efficacy, safety and value. As the county ramps up local production of PPE and other related items, they feel that there is a need to create awareness so people ca...

Last week, we spoke to the Wholesale and Retail SETA about how SA should be expanding its manufacturing capacity and seriously advancing its industrialization efforts. A couple of questions came in from those who are part of the 2020 Wholesale and Retail SETA learnership programme and concerns were raised about the way forward for the programme and the payment of stipends? Guest: Tom Mkhwanazi - C...

After confirming the country’s first Covid-19 case on the 05th of March, South Africa braced itself for a 21-day lockdown, which officially began on the 26th of March and was initially intended to last until the 16th of April. The lockdown has been further extended indefinitely and along with the extension of certain socio-economic relief mechanisms intended to cushion citizens from the hardships...

We had Prof. Phakeng on the show earlier this week and she mentioned that students doing qualitative research may not have to do fieldwork to fulfill their dissertation requirements for a post-graduate degree at UCT. Tonight we continue the discussion by asking students whether this change in methodology has any impact on the credibility of the thesis and what ethical clearance concerns might crop...

Over the last few weeks, it has been estimated that just under two billion people globally have been under varying degrees of lockdown, owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. One of the examples of an inequality that has been amplified by the virus and lockdowns is the digital divide. The internet is no longer a “nice to have”, but an essential utility that enables people to participate in society. While...

The U.S currently accounts for just over 30 percent of the global Covid-19 infection and death toll rate. The seriousness of the U.S government in dealing with the global pandemic has been questioned by many analysts. Today we zoom in on the U. S and their response to the virus; the impact that the virus has on the elections; U.S.-China relations and the way forward for Donald Trump. Guest: Johann...

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the livelihoods of many South Africans, most short-term insurers have implemented various forms of relief for their customers. This is in line with the recent FSCA Communication 12 of 2020 (General) which emphasised that regulated entities should bear current circumstances in mind and assist their customers with even more empathy, flexibility and unders...

Covid-19 has really changed a lot of things, if not everything, and it has got industries rethinking their ‘business as usual’ models. This is no different for the Wholesale and Retail Industry. South African retailers are known for sourcing products abroad and product sourcing will be affected negatively as products may be delayed or shipments may be quarantined (because how the virus spreads is...

China's commercial activities in Africa, such as investments, infrastructure projects and bank lending, have long attracted scrutiny and criticism. China is now facing growing pressure to forgive the tens of billions of dollars of loans it has made to African countries since the early 2000s. The mistreatment of African residents in China during the outbreak has fueled cries of racism and prompted...

Stake Experts has published the first edition of its African Geopolitical ATLAS 2020. The aim of the ATLAS is to give a snapshot of the geopolitical changes taking place on the continent over the last two years (i.e. 2018 and 2019). Security issues move at a very fast pace on the African continent and what was a consistent trend three or four years ago might be anecdotal today or at least not as r...

Much like our daily routines, religious and cultural rituals have been derailed by the coronavirus pandemic. A global ban on gatherings has meant that holidays like Passover, Easter and Vaisakhi are being celebrated in isolation. The same is happening for Muslims observing Ramadaan and Eid. Strict measures have also been place of funerals and cultural activities such as initiation schools have bee...

Prior to COVID-19, there was a prevalence of depression and anxiety in pregnant and postnatal women. Besides caring for young children under strained circumstances, there are many terrifying things for under-resourced mothers to cope with. Messages for Mothers (M4M) was recently launched by the Perinatal Mental Health Project (PMHP) to accelerate the provision of mental health services to pregnant...

According to health experts, the government's u-turn on cigarette sales could result in disastrous consequences of acute, forced, involuntary nicotine withdrawal. Last week Wednesday, cooperative governance and traditional affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma prohibited the sale of cigarettes during the nationwide lockdown. This announcement came less than two days before the initial ban on tob...

We’re in conversation with the VC of UC, Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng, about teaching and learning at UCT in the 2020 academic year. Covid-19 has really tested everyone and every industry – higher education institutions are no different. Online learning, Online libraries, online submission of assessments – unusually has fast become the new usual. Guest: Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng - Vice Chancellor - UCT

We rebroadcast an interview with Denis Goldberg at the second Robben Island Memorial lecture which took place on the 09th of July in 2019. This lecture was honouring struggle stalwart Govan Mbeki and the keynote speaker was former deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke.

Today is the last day of level 5 of lockdown and tomorrow we enter the next level to get the country back to where it was originally before the pandemic hit. Visuals and images were surfacing on social media of police enforcing lockdown rules in a questionable manner which angered the country. As rules have been eased slightly, government has ultimately left it to South Africans to adhere to curfe...

The regulations on the Covid-19 disaster lists Members of Parliament as essential workers but it is far from clear what role they are playing in managing this pandemic. Amongst Parliament’s key responsibilities, is the duty to scrutinise and oversee executive action (section 42(3) of the Constitution) - Parliament as an institution, one that sits at the very centre of our constitutional democracy,...

It’s been over a month since the lockdown in South Africa, and many small to medium-size businesses are wondering how they will pay salaries. Downsizing and retrenchments are on the rise and many workers fear for their jobs. With the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) recently revealing that the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to over 370 000 job losses across the country, leading FinTech company, Com...

Schools are to reopen in phases from the planned date of the 06th of May, although this is subject to change. Feedback from social cluster ministers was that the 18th of May could be more feasible. On the first day, only Grade 7 and Grade 12 pupils are expected to go back to school. Pupils and educators will be screened for Covid-19 when schools reopen and if they have raised temperatures, they wi...

We’re talking about a report, titled The Plight of the ECD Workforce, which was released by BRIDGE, Ilifa Labantwana, National ECD Alliance (NECDA), the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Smartstart and the South African Congress for Early Childhood Development (SACECD). According to the report, it is estimated that as many as 30,000 ECD operators serving poor communities in South Africa run the risk of c...