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OPINIONS

Fear and uncertainty in mining communities

Guest contributor I have asked people in my community and some of our mining stakeholders to illustrate briefly, in five lines, how Covid-19 has impacted their professional and personal lives, or even their mental health and well-being.  I have received a few WhatsApps, voice notes, phone calls and emails – some more detailed that others. Read more >

OPINIONS

Covid-19 and a tale of two countries

Pearl Nicodemus It has been seven days [at the time of writing] into the 21-day nationwide lockdown announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa and the country seems to be steadying into the stringent conditions set out by government. With almost a million recorded cases globally, many countries have gone into a tailspin, putting measures in place Read more >

OPINIONS

Ordinary people are real heroes too

Guest contributor As I sit here pondering about recent events and my experiences, I can’t help but enjoy this silence. Before I learned the term ‘social distancing’, my neighbourhood was fairly busy and one could hear cars and motorbikes speeding down Beyers Naude drive until the early hours of the morning. These past few weeks Read more >

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In an ideal system we’d all be ok

Guest Contributor The neighbourhoods of Fordsburg, Mayfair and Mayfair West are characterized by a multitude of nationalities, small businesses on every high street, and various cultures and religions living side-by-side. On any normal day, you’ll hear the call to prayer from the mosques, on a Saturday night the boom of the bass from the taverns Read more >

OPINIONS

The calm before the storm?

By Dr Azraa Alli I am an intern at Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital (formerly known as Johannesburg General). As a baby doctor (I’ve only qualified last year), I often feel out of my depth on a day to day basis, when it comes to basic things like hospital administrative issues, or scary things like being Read more >

OPINIONS

Everything in order but nothing feels normal

Guest contributor The neighbourhood is very quiet. We live next to Newlands Rugby Stadium where the railway runs close by. No trains have run since Saturday; usually in the mornings they are like an alarm clock to the parents getting their kids ready for school, i.e. me. Traffic can start from 06h00 under normal circumstances, but there are Read more >

OPINIONS

Seeing people the day before lockdown was beautiful

Guest contributor I have asked people to share their experiences. Like a colleague of mine, I am personally afraid and locked in. Since out last day at the office I only went out the day before the lockdown to see my parents and buy some veggies from the street vendors. I did a WhatsApp Challenge Read more >

OPINIONS

Uncertainty is the biggest challenge

Guest contributor I’m based in Marshalltown [in Johannesburg central]. I haven’t been outside much since the lockdown, mainly because being outside gives me anxiety. I did go out to the shops on day two of the lockdown though and there was this gloomy atmosphere; it’s definitely is not business as usual in the CBD. As I drove past Read more >

OPINIONS

Lockdown in Tembisa

Guest contributor I live close to Tembisa hospital which is on a busy road but these past few days it’s been quiet. The first couple of days people saw it as an opportunity to visit their loved ones in hospital so there were lines in the evening. People that are discharged are able to find Read more >