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 that the pandemic is sure to induce, a moratorium on evictions was place. Despite the regulations, evictions are still occurring in the City of Johannesburg with various informal settlements having been targeted for demolition. In the midst of a global pandemic, continued evictions subject poor residents in informal settlements to greater health risks and hardships, which is a blatant contradiction to the measures put into place to safeguard the security interests of the nation.

Guest: Bonolo Makgale - Manager of the Democracy and Civic Engagement Unit at the Centre for Human Rights

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 up.

Guest: Dr Mlamli Hlatshwayo - Lecturer in the curriculum studies department at UKZN

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 majority of the country’s population accesses the internet on mobile devices, those living on average and below-average incomes are mostly not connected owing to affordability.

We’re in conversation with Kokesto Moeti, the executive director Amadla.mobi, and she is of the view that mobile network operators should zero-rate local news sites during this crisis. She further states that potentially life-saving information should be available to everyone, even if they cannot afford to pay to access it.

Guest: Kokesto Moeti - Exec Director of Amadla.mobi

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: Johanna Leblanc - National Security and U.S. Foreign Policy Legal Analyst

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 understanding during these difficult times. In addition, the FSCA also published an amended exemption notice related to short-term insurance that aims to facilitate, at the discretion of the insurer, the delivery of premium relief to policyholders without impacting intermediary commission.

Most of the top ST insurers as per this years’ South African Customer Satisfaction Index immediately responded and announced relief measures for their customers.

Guest: Sekgobola Thobakgale - Short term Insurance Specialist with Refined Wealth

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 still a matter of speculation).

Sourcing new suppliers takes substantial amounts of time and money, and in some cases there may not be an alternative supplier, resulting in the retailer being unable to secure stock of a certain product.
Is this not an opportunity to expand our manufacturing capacity and seriously advance our industrialization efforts?

Guest: Tom Mkhwanazi - CEO of the W&R SETA (Wholesale & Retail SETA

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 diplomatic protests against Beijing. Lest we forget Wuhan – where would the world be without it!
But what direction will these covid times lead to – will China-Africa relations still remain favourable? Will Africa also demand that China pays for the economic losses caused by Covid-19? What will happen to the Belt and Road Initiative?

Guest: Sanusha Naidu - Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Global Dialogue

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 relevant as it was before.
To produce this ATLAS, the editing team focused on the decisionmaking value of the mapped data, i.e. their capacity to provide essential elements for an informed decision on the chosen themes. As such, it is a policy-oriented publication, intended to provide useful benchmarks for decision-making.

Guest: Claude Biao - Policy Analyst at Stake Experts and Managing Editor of the African Geopolitical ATLAS 2020

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 been banned.
At various points during South Africa’s lockdown, videos have gone viral, showing people of different faiths convening for prayer and worship and thus contravening the lockdown regulations. We have also seen couples being arrested for trying to get married, large pots of meat being spilled at imicimbi. Of course, this has created a sense of discomfort, and dis-ease to see, particularly since religious and cultural expressions are historical and deep forms of expression.
But what happens after alert level one? When all cultural and religious activity can resume? Are we willing to reconsider how we will re-socialise?

Guest: Amuzweni Ngoma - Researcher at the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection - MISTRA

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 and postnatal women during these covid times.
M4M is a one-stop online resource developed in response to COVID-19 and the lack of targeted messaging for vulnerable mothers who are concerned for their children, families and themselves

Guest: Prof Simone Hanikman - Perinatal Mental Health Project (PMHP)