Corona Diaries

In the second episode of the third season of the Corona Diaries podcast, Singisa Mdungwana connects us with more storytellers. We journey to Makhanda, where Azlan Makalima is based and tells the use of his friends Mthobeli Klaas and Azola Jela, who started a baking business in the pandemic. In Pretoria, Thato-Baholo Mangoali introduces us to business analyst Sereko Mangoali who shares how she is adjusting to work-from-home life. We make a full circle and end our journey in the Mother City, where we connect with Zyrte Gertse’s sister, Shade Gertse, a now professional nurse who recounts what it was like being a student nurse in 2020.

It is the new year, and we come with a new episode and season of the Corona Diaries podcast. In this episode, Lisekho Ngcetane connects us with a new cohort of storytellers. The storytellers we hear from in this season were first-year students in 2020. First, we hear from Lehlohonolo Mokoena, who had high hopes for his first year, but those plans were confined to his computer screen. Lisekho, who also narrates this week's episode, too share her difficulty and adjustment to online learning as a first-year in 2020. We connect with Sinazo Gulukungqu, who writes a personal letter to Covid-19 and reflects on the important lessons learned. Then, Daniel Roodt fondly shares with us about his grandmother, who lived a wholesome life and hoped to live until 100 years, but sadly he lost her to covid-19.

Join Bathandwa Njobe, Asikelelwe Pezisa, Nandipha Maliti and Lazola Jikwana in this season finale as they reflect on the year and how the JMS2 podcasting course changed for the better.

In this episode we go beyond what goes behind-the-scenes in corona diaries to the content producers' personal lives to get a glimpse of their creativity well.

In this episode of Corona Diaries, we take another riveting journey across Mzansi. We gear up for an exciting trip to the Eastern Cape. We meet storyteller Nanza Platana, who introduces us to a lifelong friend of hers named, Anxiety. Journey to the Kwa-Zulu Natal to meet with Pietermaritzburger, Josie Makkink, who asked women in her life about the daily anxieties of life in Mzansi. We make our way to Johannesburg, where Renée Moyo spent the lockdown doing some introspection and telling us what she thinks not only of herself but also of her generation. We end our season journeying back to Makhanda, the City of Saints, where Bianca Mclean asked some of her friends to write short letters to themselves before covid-19 hit our shores.

In this episode, we take on a thrilling journey across Mzansi. We start our journey in Johannesburg, where Kiran Molloy shares how family and friends are re-adjusting socially now that lockdown restrictions on social gatherings have eased. We stay in Gauteng, where storyteller, Sinazo Magwebu, meets with Nomvelo Shinga, who tells us how the lockdown brought her closer to loved ones. We make our way to the Eastern Cape, where we meet Makhanda local, Zimkitha Mafika, who opens up to audio diarist Kamva Buwa about starting and raising a family during a pandemic. Until our next episode, we make a pit-stop in Kwa-Zulu Natal. Durbanite, Dylan Aiston, welcomes us into his home and shares his creative process with us when making music.

Spring has sprung, and the world looks much brighter. We last connected with you in the middle of winter when the lockdown was at level 3. Our audio diarists are back at it to giving us a glimpse into their daily lives. In this episode, Prashalan Govender’s sister, Meshalini Govender, who worked in China when covid-19 broke out in Wuhan, shares her highs and lows on her turn home. On home ground, Motheo Mabamba speaks to her niece, Mbongovuyo Mabamba, a grade 5 learner in Pretoria, about why she would much rather be at school than home. In Makhanda, Keishaan Denston, sister to audio diarist, Junaid Denston, shares her worries about contracting covid-19 at school

If you thought Episode 1 of Covid Connected was bomb then you will definitely enjoy the second episode! Join us again in studio as we meet the families and walk through the homes of the content producers. In this episode, Bathandwa Njobe, Lazola Jikwana, Nandipha Maliti and Asikelelwe Pezisa will be reflecting and commenting on the the content produced thus far for the second season of Corona Diaries.

Episode 1 of the Corona Diaries’ behind-the-scenes podcast, Covid-Connected fills you in on the conceptualization and execution of the first season. The co-hosts, Bathandwa Njobe, Nandipha Maliti and Lazola Jikwana take you through how Podcasting teaching and learning had to adapt to the pandemic, the highs and lows that of as well as the journalistic storytelling lessons 2020 has taught us thus far.

As Khanyisile Dlamini wraps up this season of the Corona Diaries podcast, we hear more stories from our reports that are scattered across the country. We hear from Salena Fourie, who reports on more repatriation flights bringing South Africans home. Naomi Grewan reflects on the assumptions she made before going into lockdown from her home in Centurion. Hanneke Du Preez and Terez Cairncross file stories on how romantic partners are trying to celebrate birthdays and see each other in a safe and socially distanced manner. We hear from Nande Siko welcomes us into her family home in East London to share with us how life in the Siko household has been for the past couple of weeks of lockdown.