Posts

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 >

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 >

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 >

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 >

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 >

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 >

It’s all quiet in Jhb’s southern suburbs

Guest contributor Glenvista is a suburb in the south of Johannesburg. It’s 5.36 square km in area with a population of 10 177. On ordinarily days, the Glenvista community is busy and very interactive especially in the morning with people going to work or heading to the gym or taking children to school. Since the dawn of Read more >

Lockdown Life – a Corruption Watch blog

The novel coronavirus, named Covid-19 by the World Health Organisation, is raging in South Africa and across the world. This is a time of extreme danger, and so governments have generally responded with urgency, albeit to varying degrees. Because South Africa is a country still grappling with vast inequalities, there are some who will hardly Read more >

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 >

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 >

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 >

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 >

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 >

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 >

It’s all quiet in Jhb’s southern suburbs

Guest contributor Glenvista is a suburb in the south of Johannesburg. It’s 5.36 square km in area with a population of 10 177. On ordinarily days, the Glenvista community is busy and very interactive especially in the morning with people going to work or heading to the gym or taking children to school. Since the dawn of Read more >

Lockdown Life – a Corruption Watch blog

The novel coronavirus, named Covid-19 by the World Health Organisation, is raging in South Africa and across the world. This is a time of extreme danger, and so governments have generally responded with urgency, albeit to varying degrees. Because South Africa is a country still grappling with vast inequalities, there are some who will hardly Read more >