Where must we get help, ask KwaZulu-Natal residents
Impoverished residents in the province, especially those in rural areas, say they are being neglected, ignored and exploited by the very people who are supposed to protect them.
Food aid parcels not nutritionally balanced
Though the government food parcels contain more than enough carbohydrates, fats and sugar, they lack the vitamins that come from dairy and fresh vegetables.
Deadlier than coronavirus: Bolsonarovirus
As Brazil’s Covid-19 cases rocket and mass graves are dug daily, beleaguered citizens have to deal with a president who refuses to acknowledge the severity of the crisis.
Covid-19 revives memories of Aids pandemic
An elderly nurse who specialised in community-based HIV care for decades says a coronavirus-stricken society needs practical responses that have compassion at their core.
Eastern Cape schools not ready to reopen
It is unclear how schools in the province – 1 598 of which use pit latrines – will meet basic sanitation standards. Some parents want to keep their children at home, but face bureaucracy.
Editor's Pick
School readiness in question as coronavirus spreads
Science has given the green light to schools reopening as children are unlikely to catch or transmit Covid-19. But the lack of water and toilets in addition to overcrowding at no-fee schools poses a risk.
Not all Joburg’s street traders are trading
Street traders are central to food security in Johannesburg. But since being declared an essential service under lockdown, street trade in South Africa’s biggest city has returned to uneven ground.
Jazz for the struggle and the struggle for jazz
The Rainbow is one of many art spaces struggling to survive the Covid-19 lockdown. The venue’s place in the history of South African jazz and the struggle against apartheid is extraordinary.
Rehumanising Diego Maradona
In two recent documentaries, we finally get up close to the complicated sadness of Argentina’s original football deity.
Planet of the green capitalists
Critical reviews of the new documentary Planet of the Humans have missed its key point: capitalism can never be sustainable.
Depression and domestic violence on the rise
The fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic is being felt not only in the growing number of infections but also in an increase in general anxiety and cases of gender-based violence.
Podcasts
Mixtape 8: Finding space
In his latest mixtape, Charles Leonard plays songs about space: Outer space, inner space and finding space for happy thoughts.
Episode 12: Hidden epidemic in SA? | Zero hours
After an initial promising response to the Covid-19 pandemic, South Africa now runs the risk of a hidden epidemic, warns a health expert. Also, we investigate how zero hours contracts have encroached on South African factories.
Mixtape 7: Singing about Philosophy
In his antidote for the pandemic blues, Charles Leonard spins songs about philosophers and haircuts and plays tributes to fallen musicians.
COVID-19
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News
Covid-19 Roundup | Back to school
As schools get ready to reopen, models suggest the country will still not have enough ICU beds at the virus peak. In the meantime, court battles rage while unions fight to keep miners safe.
How Covid-19 has affected vulnerable people in Italy
Italy, once the epicentre of Covid-19 in Europe, has seen many of its residents affected by the pandemic. But migrants, homeless and elderly people, and women in abusive relationships have been hardest hit.
Aspiring chefs’ dreams fade as school faces closure
The Covid-19 lockdown has curtailed training at Eziko in Langa, putting the cooking school in financial straits while its trainee chefs sit at home, unable to put their new skills into practice.
Court orders an end to lockdown brutality
Following Collins Khosa’s death, the high court has ordered the government to fast-track investigations into state brutality during its Covid-19 state of disaster and halt assaults by law enforcement.
Unions insist deadly Eastern Cape clinics must close
Rather than allowing state clinics in Port Elizabeth’s impoverished areas to become Covid-19 vectors, health workers have shut them down until such time they are properly equipped.
Battle for control of the City of Tshwane is back on
The DA has won a high court victory, but the ANC is taking its campaign for power to the Constitutional Court. All the while, residents are left leaderless and without services.
Hunger could be as big a threat as Covid-19
Vulnerable households are struggling to put food on the table as the government lockdown puts their livelihoods on hold. Vouchers and food parcels help, but are they enough to prevent malnutrition?
Covid-19 Roundup | Food parcels and water shortages
Constant adaptation is the battle plan in South Africa as the coronavirus continues to spread, but the politicisation of food and a lack of water in the Eastern Cape have compounded the fight.
Social grants and food aid provide scant relief
State assistance, especially during the Covid-19 crisis, helps people who literally have nothing to eat. But it is too little and its delivery is too patchy to bring real relief.
Features
Migrant groups act in social solidarity
The lockdown to prevent the spread of Covid-19 has seen millions of vulnerable people lose their livelihoods. Migrant organisations are keeping many of them fed, irrespective of legal status.
Greece’s war on migrants rages on
Migrants stuck in overcrowded camps on Greek islands face Covid-19 infection, local anger, legal obstacles and a state that appears determined to make their life a living hell.
Intellectual disability and Covid-19: Uya’s story
Children with intellectual and developmental impairment are experiencing greater challenges and dangers during Covid-19 lockdowns in South Africa and around the world.
Tanzania’s firebrand Tundu Lissu
Sixteen bullets weren’t enough to shut up this activist-turned-MP. Tundu Lissu speaks about surviving an assassination attempt and his concerns for the future of his country.
From the Archive | Part one: Class, health and medicine
This first of a three-part series looks at how health is affected by class, charting the discrepancies in life expectancy between professionals and unskilled workers.
Culture
Album Review: Mathambo’s Tales from the Lost Cities
Spoek Mathambo’s latest album offers an audio-documentary on the present state of South Africa. It is a social commentary in the form of music, Spoek’s voice and skits from reality.
Text Messages | The trickery of time
We tend to think of time as progressive. But when stretched or reversed, it can lead to powerful plots and rich writing.
Book Review | ‘Khamr: The Makings of a Waterslams’
Jamil Khan’s memoir is a resonant debut that explores his life and the society that shaped it, while inverting power dynamics in writing.
Of drumming, Tony Allen, Charles Mungoshi and my cousin
Drummers have the power to allow Zimbabweans to commune with their ancestors, and none more so than those with elevated talent on the skins.
Text Messages | Dissecting life
Michel de Montaigne refined his thoughts and words for more than 20 years to produce his now 440-year-old Essays. It is Book III that offers riveting reading for our coronavirus-ridden times.
The poetic power of Idir
Through lyrical depictions of Kabyle culture at a time when Algeria was ravaged by civil war and repressive rule, musician Idir exemplified the role of the artist in society.
Tony Allen: the man who brought Afrobeat to the world
Dubbed the world’s greatest drummer, the Nigerian musician who died in April co-created the Afrobeat genre and went on to collaborate with artists across the musical spectrum.
Sport
Sunette Viljoen shooting for gold at fifth Olympics
The javelin veteran, who has recovered from a back injury, is confident she can do something she has never done in her career at the Tokyo Olympics.
Nigeria’s complicated relationship with Gernot Rohr
The German coach of Nigeria’s national football team has had a tumultuous relationship with the country’s football federation – and it looks set to continue for a few more years.
Joe van Niekerk lives the good life in Costa Rica
The former Springbok chose a different path on hanging up his rugby boots, taking up organic farming in Costa Rica and rediscovering himself by being one with nature.
Why Dingaan Thobela will never forget 27 April
Four years before South Africa gained its freedom, Thobela fought in a bout in the US that would have made him a world champion. Even though he won and received no belt, that night changed his life.
Shabnim Ismail’s need for speed
The fastest woman on the planet doesn’t shriek when that tag is thrust on her. That’s why she is the most lethal South African bowler in Proteas Women’s history.
Themba Gorimbo aims to be Africa’s UFC answer
The Zimbabwean mixed martial arts fighter wants to be the first Ultimate Fighting Championship champion from Africa. It’s a tough challenge, but he’s beaten bigger odds to get to where he is today.
Football can help tackle gender-based violence
A number of stakeholders agree that the beautiful game could play a critical role in confronting violence against women in South Africa. But is the sport capable of overcoming its demons to do so?
Women’s cricket stands against gender violence
The Proteas Women were supposed to play a Black Day match to raise awareness about South Africa’s struggle with gender-based violence. Its postponement doesn’t mean the fight is off.
Why is Jake White such a polarising figure?
The World Cup-winning coach has an impeccable CV, with an illustrious coaching career that has taken him all over the globe. But he has a reputation problem.
Editorial and Analysis
Food production must change to beat hunger
The political consequences of exacerbated hunger during the Covid-19 lockdown are not yet clear. But historically, mass hunger has frequently led to a breakdown in consent for the established order.
Social justice in post-pandemic South Africa
Covid-19 has shone a light on the weaknesses of the world. A fairer system is possible if activists, the government and society employ sweeping changes that speak to the many.
Millions of Indian workers stripped of their rights
State governments remove key labour laws to protect business interests at the expense of India’s impoverished workforce, denying them the little rights and protection they had.