Weekly Highlights 10 September 2021

Weekly Highlights 10 September 2021 - Issue No. 105 In this issue Dear Colleagues RAFZINS WHO HAVE RECEIVED THE COVID-19 JAB South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo, CELEBRATING MZANSI’S UNESCO-RECOGNISED warned on Wednesday, 08 September 2021, that although the number HERITAGE SITES of daily COVID-19 infections was gradually decreasing, day-to-day fluctuation in deaths indicated that South Africa was not completely out WHAT TAKING THE COVID-19 VACCINE MEANS of the third wave. He did note, however, that some provinces had done very well in controlling infections during the third wave. 65 YEARS ON, STILL WE RISE According to health officials, South Africa’s COVID-19 death toll INTERNATIONAL LITERACY DAY 2021 increased by 282 on Tuesday, bringing the total fatalities to 83, 899. To date more than 13 million vaccines have been administered across the CUSTOMER SERVICE DURING COVID-19 country. IT RAINS CATS AND DOGS Dhlomo said there was no need for government to make the COVID-19 vaccines mandatory, however, he urged citizens to get their COVID-19 STATS jab. THE FUN PAGE “We do not need to make the vaccines mandatory. It’s voluntary. Come forward and vaccinate. We do not know when we will get the Letters to the Editor fourth wave. Predictions from scientists indicate that there will be a fourth wave, but we are so determined that the fourth wave will come The Internal Communication Unit is pleased in December. If it does come, it must find all of us vaccinated,” he to introduce a new feature called “Letters stated. to the editor”, to our newsletter. Through this platform, we invite our readers to share The Health Department is encouraging more men to get vaccinated, comments, feedback, and suggestions they as numbers show that 58% of South Africans who are vaccinated are may have regarding our articles. Readers women while 42% are men. are encouraged to submit their letters, of no more than 200 words, to [email protected] Dhlomo said the Health Department was also concerned that an and [email protected]. We are looking increasing number of people due for their second jab were not going forward to hearing from you. to sites to get vaccinated. He then pleaded with them to come forward. Enjoy this week’s Highlights! Kind regards Internal Communication Editor: Thabang Mahlatsi ([email protected]) Sub-editor: Tholakele Radebe ([email protected]) Reporter: Tintswalo Nkuna ([email protected]) Editor-In-Chief: Anton Janse van Rensburg ([email protected])

RAFZINS WHO HAVE RECEIVED THE COVID-19 JAB by Zama Ledwaba We continue with our series of profiling our a chance to watch a programme on Discovery Channel colleagues who have received the COVID-19 on how these vaccines were developed and the vaccine. collaboration of different pharmaceutical companies. Furthermore, it would not have been my first vaccine It is important that we emphasise the importance of as an adult (I’ve had the Hepatitis B vaccine, which is a getting inoculated to ensure the country overcomes two-dose vaccine as well). It was a conscious and well- this pandemic and get back to building our economy. thought-out decision. Furthermore, this feature serves to encourage RAFzins to register to get the COVID-19 vaccine. What is your ‘why’ for getting vaccinated? COVID-19 vaccines are safe, and getting vaccinated will help protect you against developing severe To protect myself against severe symptoms should COVID-19 disease and dying from COVID-19 related I be infected with the virus (I have a controlled complications. comorbidity-hypertension), to protect my loved ones and contribute towards protecting my fellow citizens. It We touched base with some RAFzins who have already is so encouraging to watch people in other countries, received the jab to hear about their vaccine experience. especially in first world countries going about their daily lives without masks (I love watching tennis and fans in countries like Australia, the US, UK, France, Italy and others are already watching matches without masks). This should say something to us. There were more than 50, 000 00 fans at Wembley Stadium for the Euro 2020 final between Italy and England. How many of them were wearing masks? Why? The answer is clear and simple: vaccination. What side effects (if any) did you experience after getting your jab? A slight headache, which was not immediate but dissipated quickly, and muscle pain (bearable and non- limiting at all, which cleared up after two days). What would you say to someone that has doubts about getting the COVID-19 vaccine? Kgomotso Gaula It is your prerogative not to vaccinate but make an Human Capital (EWS) informed choice (based on facts). We have authentic Menlyn information at our fingertips, e.g. the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases have plenty of information on COVID-19 vaccines. When and where did you receive your COVID-19 jab? I got the first dose on 19 July 2021 at Life Cosmos Hospital. Were you scared /had any fears before getting your COVID-19 jab? I was at ease as I had read about the vaccines and had CLICK HERE FOR NEXT PAGE Continues on the next 2 page

RAFZINS WHO HAVE RECEIVED THE COVID-19 JAB (CONT) Jimmy Mamadisa What is your ‘why’ for getting vaccinated? Human Capital Menlyn To minimise the risk of serious COVID-19 symptoms that could lead to me being hospitalised should I When and where did you receive your COVID-19 contract the virus. jab? What side effects (if any) did you experience after 27 July 2021, Clicks Pharmacy Atterbury. getting your jab? Were you scared /had any fears before getting your Mild flu symptoms and mild headaches. COVID-19 jab? What would you say to someone that has doubts Not scared at all, absolutely nothing. about getting the COVID-19 vaccine? As South Africans since birth we have been vaccinated against so many diseases, e.g. TB, polio and measles. The fact is an average South African would have been vaccinated 14 times upon reaching his/her adult life. So, this should be seen as one of those vaccination health programmes by our democratic government to improve the quality of health of its citizen and further open the economy, which will create job opportunities. Zama Ledwaba is a RegMioneanllyMn.arketing Officer based in CLICK HERE FOR NEXT PAGE 3

CELEBRATING MZANSI’S UNESCO-RECOGNISED HERITAGE SITES Researched by Thabang Mahlatsi In this week’s edition, we kick-off the Heritage Robben Island (Western Cape): Most famous for the Month commemorations. This period is used to incarceration of political prisoners, including Nelson mark our nation’s diverse culture and heritage. Mandela, the first democratically elected President of South Africa is a country of incredible beauty and South Africa, who was imprisoned there for 18 of his 27 vast natural diversity. South Africans have known years in jail. this for a long time but others have recognised this too. The United Nations Educational, Scientific Robben Island and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has identi- • Year inscribed: 1999 fied eight sites to be World Heritage Sites in the • Location: Western Cape country, because they are of “outstanding value to • Type: Cultural heritage humanity”. • UNESCO website’s reference number: 916 Four of South Africa’s World Heritage Sites are clas- ISimangaliso Wetland Park (KwaZulu-Natal): For- sified as cultural, three as natural and one as a mixed merly called the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park, it has cultural and natural site. both one of the largest estuary systems in Africa and Robben Island ISimangaliso Wetland Park 4 CLICK HERE FOR NEXT PAGE Continues on the next page...

CELEBRATING MZANSI’S UNESCO-RECOGNISED HERITAGE SITES (CONT.) the continent’s southernmost coral reefs. UKhahlamba Drakensberg Park • Year inscribed: 2000 ISimangaliso (Greater St Lucia) Wetland Park • Location: KwaZulu-Natal • Year inscribed: 1999 • Type: Mixed cultural and natural heritage • Location: KwaZulu-Natal • UNESCO website’s reference number: 985 • Type: Natural heritage • UNESCO website’s reference number: 914 Cradle of Humankind Mapungubwe Heritage Site Cradle of Humankind (Gauteng): It includes the hom- Mapungubwe Heritage Site  (Limpopo): A “place of inid fossil sites at Swartkrans, Sterkfontein and Krom- the stone of wisdom”, was South Africa’s first kingdom draai. and developed into the subcontinent’s largest realm, lasting for 400 years before it was abandoned in the Cradle of Humankind 14th century. Its highly sophisticated people traded gold • Year inscribed: 1999, extended 2005 and ivory with China, India and Egypt. • Location: Gauteng and North West provinces • Type: Cultural heritage Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape • UNESCO website’s reference number: 915 • Year inscribed: 2003 • Location: Limpopo Ukhahlamba-Drakensberg Park (KwaZulu-Natal): • Type: Cultural heritage The park has outstanding natural beauty, Africa’s • UNESCO website’s reference number: 1099 highest mountain range south of Kilimanjaro, and the largest and most concentrated series of rock art paint- ings in Africa. Ukhahlamba-Drakensberg Park Cape Floral Kingdom CLICK HERE FOR NEXT PAGE Cape Floral Kingdom  (Western Cape): It makes up only 0.04% of the world’s land area, yet contains an astonishing 3% of its plant species, making it one of the richest areas for plants in the world and one of the globe’s 18 biodiversity hotspots. The protected areas include: Continues on the next page... 5

CELEBRATING MZANSI’S UNESCO-RECOGNISED HERITAGE SITES (CONT.) Cape Floral Region • Year inscribed: 2004 • Location: Western Cape and Eastern Cape • Type: Natural heritage • UNESCO website’s reference number: 1007 Richtersveld Vredefort Dome Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Land- Vredefort Dome (Free State): Some two billion years scape (Northern Cape): It covers 160, 000 hectares of ago, a meteorite 10 km in diameter hit the earth about dramatic mountainous desert in the north-west part of 100 km south west of Johannesburg, creating an enor- South Africa. You can explore the Richtersveld National mous impact crater. Park online, here. Vredefort Dome Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape • Year inscribed: 2005 • Year inscribed: 2007 • Location: Free State and North West • Location: Northern Cape • Type: Natural heritage • Type: Cultural heritage • UNESCO website’s reference number: 1162 • UNESCO website’s reference number: 1265 Shtotuprsc:e//sw: ww.brandsouthafrica.com/people-culture/arts- culture/worldher haftrtpicsa:-/s/w-ewigwh.pt-ourntfeoslciooc-wololercldti-ohne.rcitoamge/u-ssietefusl-info/south- Thabang Mahlatsi is a Specialist: Internal 6 Communication, based in Eco Glades CLICK HERE FOR NEXT PAGE

WHAT TAKING THE COVID-19 VACCINE MEANS by Employee Wellness Services and Gauteng General Practitioners Collaboration CLICK HERE FOR NEXT PAGE 7

65 YEARS ON, STILL WE RISE by Mpho Mabaso During the march to the Union Buildings in 1956, been media reports of women coming forward to de- the women sang a freedom song: Wathint’ abafazi, nounce being ‘imbokodo’ as it represents a lot of pain Strijdom! wathint’ abafazi, wathint’ imbokodo, uzak- and injustice to women, but let’s not forget the essence ufa! (When you strike women, you strike a rock, of who we are: we are strong, bold, driven, loving, cou- Strijdom, you will be crushed!) The phrase ‘wathint’ rageous, fighters and survivors. Let’s ensure that we abafazi, wathint’ imbokodo’ has come to represent correct the imbalance that is in order for the next gener- women’s courage and strength in South Africa. ations to move on to greater heights. On 9 August 1956, over 20, 000 women of all races, “Still I Rise” is primarily about self-respect and confi- led by Rahima Moosa, Lilian Ngoyi, Sophia Williams-de dence. In the poem, Maya Angelou reveals how she will Bruyn and Helen Joseph, marched through the streets overcome anything through her self-esteem. She shows of Pretoria to the Union Buildings. They then hand- how nothing can get her down. She will rise to any ed over bundles of petitions with more than 100, 000 occasion and nothing, not even her skin colour, will hold signatures against the new pass laws and the Group her back. This is how we as women should continue to Areas Act to then South African Prime Minister, JG Stri- think and not allow our current pain to enslave us). jdom, who had arranged to be elsewhere. The petition was eventually accepted by his secretary. “You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, As we come to the end of Women’s Month we reflect You may trod me in the very dirt on what these courageous women were able to achieve But still, like dust, I’ll rise in a segregated and patriarchal state. The courage Does my sassiness upset you? and strength they exhibited 65 years ago run deep in Why are you beset with gloom? our blood. They might have been fighting for pass laws ’Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells to be changed and paved a way for us, but we now Pumping in my living room. have our own “pass laws” to deal with, such as gen- Just like moons and like suns, der-based violence (GBV), inequality, unemployment, With the certainty of tides, which affects women more, and poverty. We can never Just like hopes springing high, grow weary in the fight for justice towards women and Still I’ll rise (Angelou, 1978) children. We still need to mobilise all we can in order for our children to be able to live in a society where they are treated as equals and not killed because they said “No!” to a man. In the same spirit of these giants of 1956 who never Mpho Mabaso is a Senior Officer: Promotions, based in 8 gave up and mobilised against their government, we Eco Glades need to revolt until our voices are heard and we are seen in the world as the equals we are. There have CLICK HERE FOR NEXT PAGE

INTERNATIONAL LITERACY DAY 2021 Researched by Celimpilo Dladla Despite these gains, 774 million adults (15 years and older) still cannot read or write – two-thirds of them (493 million) are women. Among youth, 123 million are illiterate of which 76 million are female. Even though the size of the global illiterate population is shrinking, the female proportion has remained virtually steady at 63% to 64%. A combination of ambitious goals, insufficient and parallel efforts, inadequate resources and strategies, and continued underestimation of the magnitude and complexity of the task accounts for this unmet goal. Lessons learnt over recent decades show that meeting the goal of universal literacy calls not only for more ef- fective efforts but also for renewed political will and for doing things differently at all levels - locally, nationally and internationally. For over 40 years now, the United Nations Educa- tion, Scientific and Cultural Organization  (UNE- SCO) has been celebrating International Literacy Day by reminding the international community that literacy is a human right and the foundation of all learning. The day is celebrated on 8 September. Literacy is a cause for celebration since there are now close to four billion literate people in the world. How- ever, literacy for all – children, youth and adults - is still an unaccomplished goal and an ever moving target. According to data released by the UNESCO Institute In South Africa, the government has launched the Kha for Statistics, literacy rates for adults and youth con- Ri Gude Mass Literacy Campaign in February 2008, with tinue to rise. Young women aged 15-24 are making the intention of enabling 4,7 million adults above the age the strongest gains, but still lag behind young men. In of 15 years to become literate and numerate in one of the 2011, 87% of female youth had basic literacy skills, eleven official languages. Achieving this goal will enable compared to 92% of males. Overall, more than half of South Africa to reach its United Nations: Education For countries with data have youth literacy rates of 95% or All commitment made at Dakar in 2000 - that of halving higher. the country’s illiteracy rates by 2015. Initiated and managed by the Department of Educa- tion, Kha Ri Gude delivers across all nine provinces in a massive logistical outreach. The campaign enables adult learners to read, write and calculate in their mother tongue in line with the Unit Standards for ABET level 1, and also to learn spoken English. Source: https://www.gov.za/InternationalLiteracyDay2021 https://en.unesco.org/ CLICK HERE FOR NEXT PAGE Celimpilo Dladla is a Specialist: Nguni Languages, based 9 in Eco Glades.

CUSTOMER SERVICE DURING COVID-19 by Mmabatho Moloto Let me put it in context. Takealot packages would normally take approximately two-three working days to be delivered (in my experience), but recently that period has increased to over seven days. This is not as a result of Takealot service levels going down, but due to certain restrictions as well as possibly increased volumes of business due to more and more people opting to use this service rather than going out physically to shops. Let’s now look at another scenario. Until recently, restaurants were not allowed to have sit-in services and therefore people ordered food for delivery. This meant increased orders via Uber Eats and Mr D. A customer could also order on his/her own and simply wait for the food at the restaurant to enjoy at home. This may mean the waiting time for the order is increased, as it has in my experience. Being told the waiting period is 20 minutes and then actually waiting almost 60 minutes is enough to upset anyone. Did I consider not going to the establishment again? Yes. Will I actually go back to this establishment? Maybe. This is only because I realised that staff was doing the best they could under the circumstances. There is nothing more heart-warming than receiving good service, and anyone can attest to this. Sharing the experience with those close to you is even better because, truth be told, there aren’t many businesses that have this figured out. Now, think about customer service during COVID-19. Businesses are working with half the normal number of staff due to new working arrangements such as rotational work. There has been a lot of adaptations. So, what effect has this had on customer service and how have customers shifted mindsets and expectations? I have recently found myself much more tolerant of slow service because I have come to realise that things are not normal and therefore expecting the same type of service as before COVID-19 feels a bit unreasonable. I say this because I understand that we are living in different times. This, however, does not apply to all services. Many businesses managed to move to new ways of operating while others unfortunately missed this opportunity. Ideally, service levels should not be compromised, and customers should not be able to accept it as one of the COVID-19 effects. Customer service is an important part of running a business and ensuring repeat business and should therefore be kept consistent. Mmabatho Moloto is a Brand Officer based in Eco Glades 10 CLICK HERE FOR NEXT PAGE

IT RAINS CATS AND DOGS by Benedict Kola cohol-based hand sanitiser as well as keeping a social distance of 1.5 metres from others. The owners of establishments are expected to ensure that their premises do not exceed 50% of the capacity of the venue. Funerals have also been identified as one of the superspreader events and the number of attend- ees has to be kept to a maximum of 50 people. Towards the end of 2019, the world witnessed some As I look and watch it just rains cats and dogs. No one light showers covering the entirety of one of the is safe. The virus knows no social status. As Africans, Chinese cities, Wuhan. The virologists and epide- some of us thought we were insulated from the wrath of miologists in that country were reported to have the virus. But we were fooling ourselves. In no time, we warned the authorities about the ominous showers found ourselves in the midst of the virus. Our govern- as carriers of a novel virus capable of destabilising ment tried by all means to contain the virus by closing the world economies. all ports of entry to minimise its spread. Schools were disrupted and major factories were forced to close As the virus was becoming widespread in the city down for a certain period. A hard national lockdown was markets, the authorities did not seem to take the warn- imposed. Our roads became deserted, planes were ing seriously. They thought that it was another band grounded, and only essential services were allowed on of showers passing by and that they would soon fizzle the road. But still it continued to rain cats and dogs. out. As the days went by, the showers thickened into a A year passed without us celebrating the Easter holi- heavy deluge leaving a trail of death and destruction in days and the festive season with our loved ones be- their path. cause it continued to rain cats and dogs. More infec- tions, deaths and recoveries are still reported on a daily As the virus was beginning to spread to other conti- basis. nents, the World Health Organization (WHO) stepped in with a view to understanding the behaviour of the novel Some of the European countries have developed sev- virus and developing a vaccine. The novel virus was eral vaccines to fight against the coronavirus pandemic. ultimately called coronavirus and the resulting disease The South African government has bought Johnson the Coronavirus Disease of 2019 (COVID-19). At the & Johnson and Pfizer vaccines, and people are being rate at which the virus spread and claimed innumerable encouraged to get vaccinated in order to minimise the lives, it was then declared a pandemic. Various coun- severity of the illness, to avoid hospitalisation and to tries mobilised human and financial resources in order reduce the number of deaths. Every morning when we to conduct research on the pandemic. wake up, we look up to the sky with the hope of see- ing the rainbow that symbolises the end of the heavy downpour. Let us vaccinate in our numbers so that we can reach a threshold percentage that allows for herd immunity. Only then will our skies clear up and the weather become fine again. The ability of the virus to mutate maade it easier for it to continue to spread to other continents. The spread of the virus is through human touch or by sneezing into the air. This kind of pandemic was never witnessed since the Spanish Flu that erupted in 1918. Health authorities have put in place non-pharmaceutical precautionary measures to help curb the spread of the virus. These include, among others, the wearing of face masks, regular washing of hands and/or applying an al- CLICK HERE FOR NEXT PAGE Benedict Kola is a Promotions and Activations Marketing 11 Coordinator based in Eco Glades



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