Clicky
  • home Home
  • keyboard_arrow_right COVID-19
  • keyboard_arrow_right Posts
  • keyboard_arrow_rightSouth Africa’s responsiveness towards Covid-19 shows signs of hope and solidarity

South Africa’s responsiveness towards Covid-19 shows signs of hope and solidarity

Writes Thandi Tobias

A blueprint for the world to learn from – decisive, quick and collaborative

The deadly Coronavirus has brought a dark cloud of fear and negativity around the world with Spain reporting 849 new deaths in a single day. Today, the total number of confirmed global cases exceeds 800 000. This includes 38 000 lives that were lost. In South Africa, the total number of confirmed cases by March 30th, was 1326 and the country lost three lives in total to Coronavirus.

 

While this may seem like gloom and doom, there are shifting patterns. More than 170 0000 people around the world have recovered from COVID-19, signalling the fact that there is hope at the end of the tunnel. It is only reasonable for citizens to feel anxious and apprehensive about this global catastrophe. However, there are quick wins that we can begin to appreciate as a nation, given the challenges faced by Italy, the US, Australia, the UK amongst others. Citizens from around the world have been mainly  complimentary about South Africa’s responsiveness towards the pandemic, which is indicative of the fact that the country’s leadership, spearheaded by President Cyril Ramaphosa, together with his cabinet and various stakeholders, led a robust  and strategic response which could be a lesson from which other leaders in the continent and world could learn.

 

South Africa responded quickly and took decisive actions by announcing a lockdown  within eight days of the first loss of life and 402 cases confirmed. President Ramaphosa’s efforts to curtail the spread of COVID-19 through the national lockdown for 21 days, bears testament to South Africa’s commitment in addressing COVID-19 with drive, tenacity and a sense of urgency. While there are pockets of commentators around the country, who felt that some of the measures taken were extreme, South Africans on the main, recognised that a global shock required globally effective action and response.

 

The reality of Covid19 is painful, but there is hope. As President Ramaphosa said, “South Africans have, for the most part, responded responsibly to this decision, by staying at home, observing the regulations and exercising the greatest of care. As a country, we need to stand in solidarity against this invisible enemy. We must discourage our families, friends and colleague from disobeying the laws of our country during this crucial period. Every time you violate the regulations the government has issued or try to get around the rules, you are putting yourself and others at risk and helping the virus to spread”.

 

We reiterate President Cyril Ramaphosa’s call, that the cost of not acting now would be far greater. We must prioritise the lives and livelihoods of our people, above all else and use all of the measures that are within our power to protect them from the economic consequences of this pandemic.

 

It is reasonable for one to be optimistic in the belief that South Africans will emerge victorious from the national lockdown, with its current – and future challenges, as free citizens, just like Nelson Mandela did when he emerged into the sunlight from the Victor Verster prison, after 27 years – a free man! As citizens, we must ensure a prosperous future for our children, which requires that we hold ourselves accountable and act responsibly. Now more than ever, the country needs more solidarity to encourage each other and every citizen to play their part. The future of our nation and humanity is in our hands.

 

Thandi Tobias is the Chairperson of Brand South Africa, the official marketing agency of South Africa, with a mandate to build the country’s brand reputation, to improve its global competitiveness.

 

Written by: Natasha



UpComing Shows

DownLoad Our Mobile App

Privacy Policy

THIS PRIVACY STATEMENT FORMS PART OF KAYA 959’S TERMS OF USE POLICY. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH ANY TERM OF THIS PRIVACY STATEMENT, YOU MUST CEASE YOUR ACCESS OF THIS WEBSITE IMMEDIATELY. 

POPIA ActTo promote the protection of personal information processed by public and private bodies; to introduce certain conditions so as to establish minimum requirements for the processing of personal information; to provide for the establishment of an Information Regulator to exercise certain powers and to perform certain duties and functions in terms of this Act and the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000; to provide for the issuing of codes of conduct; to provide for the rights of persons regarding unsolicited electronic communications and automated decision making; to regulate the flow of personal information across the borders of the Republic; and to provide for matters connected therewith.

RECOGNISING THAT—

  • section 14 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, provides that everyone has the right to privacy;
  • the right to privacy includes a right to protection against the unlawful collection, retention, dissemination and use of personal information;
  • the State must respect, protect, promote and fulfil the rights in the Bill of Rights;

AND BEARING IN MIND THAT—

  • consonant with the constitutional values of democracy and openness, the need for economic and social progress, within the framework of the information society, requires the removal of unnecessary impediments to the free flow of information, including personal information;

AND IN ORDER TO—

  • regulate, in harmony with international standards, the processing of personal information by public and private bodies in a manner that gives effect to the right to privacy subject to justifiable limitations that are aimed at protecting other rights and important interests,
  1. Definitions and Interpretation

1.1.“Personal Information” means information relating to an identifiable, living, natural person and where it is applicable, identifiable, existing juristic person, including all information as defined in the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013. 

1.2  Parliament assented to POPIA on 19 November 2013. The commencement date of section 1Part A of Chapter 5section 112 and section 113 was 11 April 2014. The commencement date of the other sections was 1 July 2020 (with the exception of section 110 and 114(4). The President of South Africa has proclaimed the POPI commencement date to be 1 July 2020.

 
1.3. “Processing” means the creation, generation, communication, storage, destruction of personal information as more fully defined in the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013.  

1.4. “You” or the “user” means any person who accesses and browses this website for any purpose. 

1.4. “Website” means the website of the KAYA 959 at URL www.kaya959.co.za or such other URL as KAYA 959 may choose from time to time.   

  1. Status and Amendments

2.1. KAYA 959 respects your privacy. This privacy policy statement sets out KAYA 959’s information gathering and dissemination practices in respect of the Website. 

2.2. This Privacy Policy governs the processing of personal information provided to KAYA 959 through your use of the Website. 

2.3. Please note that, due to legal and other developments, KAYA 959 may amend these terms and conditions from time to time.  

  1. Processing of Personal Information

3.1. By providing your personal information to KAYA 959 you acknowledge that it has been collected directly from you and consent to its processing by KAYA 959. 

3.2. Where you submit Personal Information (such as name, address, telephone number and email address) via the website (e.g. through completing any online form) the following principles are observed in the processing of that information: 

3.2.1. KAYA 959 will only collect personal information for a purpose consistent with the purpose for which it is required. The specific purpose for which information is 
collected will be apparent from the context in which it is requested. 

3.2.2. KAYA 959 will only process personal information in a manner that is adequate, relevant and not excessive in the context of the purpose for which it is processed. 

3.2.3. Personal information will only be processed for a purpose compatible with that for which it was collected, unless you have agreed to an alternative purpose in writing or KAYA 959 is permitted in terms of national legislation of general application dealing primarily with the protection of personal information. 

3.2.4. KAYA 959 will keep records of all personal Information collected and the specific purpose for which it was collected for a period of 1 (one) year from the date on which it was last used. 

3.2.5. KAYA 959 will not disclose any personal information relating to you to any third party unless your prior written agreement is obtained or KAYA 959 is required to do so by law. 

3.2.6. If personal information is released with your consent KAYA 959 will retain a record of the information released, the third party to which it was released, the reason for the release and the date of release, for a period of 1 (one) year from the date on which it was last used. 

3.2.7. KAYA 959 will destroy or delete any personal information that is no longer needed by KAYA 959 for the purpose it was initially collected, or subsequently processed. 

3.3. Note that, as permitted by the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002, KAYA 959 may use personal information collected to compile profiles for statistical purposes. No information contained in the profiles or statistics will be able to be linked to any specific user.    

  1. Collection of anonymous data

4.1. KAYA 959 may use standard technology to collect information about the use of this website. This technology is not able to identify individual users but simply allows KAYA 959 to collect statistics. 

4.2. KAYA 959 may utilise temporary or session cookies to keep track of users’ browsing habits. A cookie is a small file that is placed on your hard drive in order to keep a record of your interaction with this website and facilitate user convenience. 

4.2.1. Cookies by themselves will not be used to identify users personally but may be used to compile identified statistics relating to use of services offered or to provide KAYA 959 with feedback on the performance of this website. 

4.2.2. The following classes of information may be collected in respect of users who have enabled cookies: 

4.2.2.1. The browser software used; 

4.2.2.2. IP address; 

4.2.2.3. Date and time of activities while visiting the website; 

4.2.2.4. URLs of internal pages visited; and 

4.2.2.5. referrers. 

4.3. If you do not wish cookies to be employed to customize your interaction with this website it is possible to alter the manner in which your browser handles cookies. Please note that, if this is done, certain services on this website may not be available. 

  1. Security

5.1. KAYA 959 takes reasonable measures to ensure the security and integrity of information submitted to or collected by this website, but cannot under any circumstances be held liable for any loss or other damage sustained by you as a result of unlawful access to or dissemination of any personal information by a third party. 

  1. Links to other websites

6.1. KAYA 959 has no control over and accepts no responsibility for the privacy practices of any third party websites to which hyperlinks may have been provided and KAYA 959 strongly recommends that you review the privacy policy of any website you visit before using it further. 

  1. Queries

7.1. If you have any queries about this privacy policy please contact us by emailing [email protected]