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We got to spend meaningful time with family during the lockdown. I learnt how to be patient. People showed up from everywhere to help children with meals at the poorer schools or caring for the elderly stuck at home. All protocols observed now means something life saving and not simply the tired joke of a boring MC at the start of one or other function.

Everywhere, people witnessed kindness on a grand scale. Most citizens are good people after all; when the chips are down, we stand up for and we stand in for the least among us. Covid revealed that about us.

Teachers tell me they learnt technological skills they would not have acquired otherwise. The older teachers struggled with the new technology platforms but eventually most of the countrys educators came on board. Schools are institutions which means change comes slowly if at all. But Covid forced a worldwide change in teaching and learning. Education will never be the same again, and that is a good thing.

It took a pandemic to make us aware of the deep inequalities in our society. Schooling was uninterrupted for the privileged and non-existent for the poor. Social distancing, it turns out, is a middle-class concept that means nothing if you live in a crowded shack. That is why so many gave more than R3bn to the Solidarity Fund.

That was the right word for standing together in a crisis: solidarity.

Nobody will look at nurses, doctors and other health workers in the same way again. When our country started to burn, they ran towards the fire. Real-life heroes, some of whom fell in the fight, taking the virus for us when we did not know much about therapeutics and when vaccines were still a pipe dream. We saw unbelievable courage. A 10th medical school will reopen in SA next year at Nelson Mandela University. I have no doubt they will be oversubscribed with the next generation of health-care specialists. They too will run towards future pandemic fires.

Teachers, principals and other education staff are also front-line heroes. We lost too many of them, more than 1,500. These teachers taught because they loved their children. Despite their anxieties, they returned to school to fulfil their vocation. Parents who did some version of home schooling during the hard lockdown would come to appreciate the labour of teachers; it is hard work.

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JONATHAN JANSEN | 'Twenty Plenty' my foot. Or was it? Maybe this year wasn't all bad - TimesLIVE

TORONTO, Dec. 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- From mid-November to this week the Ontario Health Coalition has surveyed more than 80 staff in different long-term care homes with large outbreaks about why COVID-19 is spreading in their homes. In visceral terms, staff describe current working, care and infection control conditions on the ground in the homes right now. Long-term care homes surveyed ranged from homes with outbreaks of 10 to more than 150 staff and residents infected with COVID-19. The survey will be released on Friday in a press conference by Zoom.

When: Friday, December 18 at 10 a.m. by Zoom.

Media are invited to join by Zoom at the following link on Friday, December 18 at 10 a.m.

https://zoom.us/j/98706338839?pwd=K1oxWVNuN2Nqdzk1YTQvaFlVaVUzUT09

or phone at +1 647 558 0588

Meeting ID: 987 0633 8839Passcode: 957117

Long-term care workers and their representatives will be at the press conference.

LTC Homes in the following towns are included in the survey: Beeton, Brampton, Hamilton, Mississauga, Ottawa, Scarborough, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Windsor-Essex.

For more information: Natalie Mehra, Ontario Health Coalition, at 416-230-6402.

Originally posted here:
MEDIA ADVISORY - Press Conference by Zoom: Survey of Front-Line Staff in Long-Term Care Homes About Why Large COVID-19 Outbreaks are Spreading Reveals...

Chippa United bowed to public and government pressure on Thursday by withdrawing the appointment of controversial coach Luc Eymael.

The Belgians appointment had drawn widespread condemnation from the Premier Soccer League's (PSL) mother body Safa local government and social media because of his racist and offensive remarks made at a previous club.

In July Eymael was fired by Young Africans FC of Tanzania for referring to the club supporters as monkeys and dogs who know nothing about football.

Eymael was named as the Chippas new coach on Wednesday only 24 hours after they sacked Lehlohonolo Seema.

Chippa boss Siviwe Mpengesi initially defended Eymaels appointment on national radio on Wednesday evening but ultimately was forced to swallow his pride and embarrassingly reverse his decision.

Chippa United have a history for hiring and firing coaches but Eymaels tenure with the Port Elizabeth side will go down as the shortest ever stay . . . less than 24 hours.

"The club would like to formally announce that it has withdrawn the appointment of Belgian Luc Eymael" a statement read on Thursday afternoon.

"When processes are complete a new coaching announcement will be made in due course.

"After having announced Eymael's appointment the club has considered public outrage.

"There was also the reputational damage caused to our brand; and that of our stakeholders partners as well as our sponsors.

"We would like to clarify that the initial decision to make this appointment was based on Eymael's coaching track record where we felt he was the best person to take the club towards our desired top half finish in this DStv Premiership season.

"Outside of the written reports there was no formal instruction to us or to any other team- to not employ Eymael."

"However as the Pride of Eastern Cape we represent the legacies of world renowned anti-discrimination heroes that come from our province.

"The Chilli Boys play an influential role to our surrounding communities through football and through our philanthropic work.

"We have people that look up to us and on the responsible decisions that we take.

"Our withdrawal of this appointment is an acknowledgment of our stance on such matters with the club also having fully informed Eymael and his representatives on our position."

Earlier on Thursday Eastern Cape provincial government (ECPG) slammed the appointment of the Belgian.

The Eastern Cape provincial government is concerned that Chippa United has appointed Luc Eymael as their head coach even though they know about the racist and offensive remarks he made about black people supporting his former club their statement read.

The statement went on to say that Eymaels remarks had no place in SA society especially one that has the backing of NMB and Buffalo City municipalities.

We dont think a football club playing in our professional soccer league and a club that is financially supported by the municipalities of the Eastern Cape government should be coached by an unrepentant racist spewing offensive and derogatory statements about other human beings.

Safa made their intentions clear on Wednesday evening.

We find it deeply offensive that as the global football community is united in solidarity around the Black Lives Matter campaign Chippa United would see it fit to hire such a character to work in the city named after the founding father of the nation Tata Nelson Mandela the champion of a world free of racism and other forms of discrimination said the soccer bodys statement.

The rest is here:
Embattled 'Chippa' Mpengesi withdraws the appointment of controversial coach Luc Eymael - TimesLIVE

Many on social media have welcomed the North Gauteng High Court's ruling against lobby group AfriForum's request to have the Covid-19 regulations regarding beach closures declared unconstitutional.

The group submitted the motion after President Cyril Ramaphosa's recent announcement that beaches in the Eastern Cape and the Garden Route would be closed from December 16 to January 3. Ramaphosa said this would help arrest the spread of Covid-19 as SA is experiencing a second wave of infections.

Ramaphosa also said beaches in KwaZulu-Natal would be closed on peak days - December 16, 25, 26 and 31 and from January 1-3.

After lodging its court papers last week, AfriForum said the move to close beaches was unconstitutional and discriminatory. The group said the restrictions on access to beaches amounted to the restriction of basic human rights.

Original post:
'These beaches will be the end of us!' - Mzansi responds to court ruling against AfriForum - TimesLIVE

We can never stress enough the need for citizens to take every precaution necessary as we celebrate the festive season and look for a reprieve from a tough year. Unfortunately, Covid-19 is unrelenting and we therefore can't afford to be complacent at this stage.

We urge all South Africans to adhere to the regulations and recommendations pertaining to the national state of disaster, avoid large gatherings and congested environments, ensure adequate ventilation in venues where they gather and vigilantly adhere to non-pharmaceutical interventions, said the minister in a statement.

Social media was abuzz with reaction to the latest virus figures, with some users predicting that if South Africans don't do more to try to curb the spread of Covid-19, 2021 might be even worse.

Here are some of the reactions:

Excerpt from:
'The second wave is going to be a tsunami': Mzansi reacts to SA's highest daily hike in Covid infections - TimesLIVE