SAFFARAZZI
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • Tech
    • Crypto
  • ENTERTAINMENT
    • Viral
  • LIFESTYLE
    • Food
      • Recipes
    • Soapies
    • Travel
  • SPORT
    • Soccer
    • Rugby
    • Cricket
    • Motorsport
  • LOTTO
    • Daily Lotto Results
    • Lotto and Lotto Plus Results
    • Powerball and Powerball Plus Results
  • MORE
    • MOTORING
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Write for us!
    • Newsletters and Notifications
  • Privacy
No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • Tech
    • Crypto
  • ENTERTAINMENT
    • Viral
  • LIFESTYLE
    • Food
      • Recipes
    • Soapies
    • Travel
  • SPORT
    • Soccer
    • Rugby
    • Cricket
    • Motorsport
  • LOTTO
    • Daily Lotto Results
    • Lotto and Lotto Plus Results
    • Powerball and Powerball Plus Results
  • MORE
    • MOTORING
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Write for us!
    • Newsletters and Notifications
No Result
View All Result
SAFFARAZZI
No Result
View All Result
Home News

We recorded acts of kindness as COVID-19 unfolded in South Africa: What we learnt

The stories range from tiny interventions such as the sharing of a WiFi password to the exceptional, like allowing strangers to live in one’s house for as long as they needed to.

The Conversation by The Conversation
2021-10-13 22:07
in News
Photo by Ditto Bowo on Unsplash

Photo by Ditto Bowo on Unsplash

FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin
ADVERTISEMENT

Jess Auerbach, North-West University and Jess Auerbach, North-West University

In the face of South Africa’s stark inequalities it was clear that many people were likely to fall into even more desperate circumstances once the reality of COVID-19 restrictions set in. Many immediately lost jobs or saw their businesses collapse, and a host of other restrictions led to unprecedented changes in how we lived.

For the first time in the country’s democratic history, all were compelled to consider the realities of other people. These included the physical and the social. Who lived at home? Do they get along? What would the impact be of weeks in the same space without a break? Was there enough food? Did the roof leak?

ADVERTISEMENT

Remarkably, the country mobilised. Individuals offered whatever support they could, in money, in food and in services. In every corner of the nation, communities sprang into action to take care of their most vulnerable citizens. In many ways, across the country, South Africans were stepping up to support one another in ways rarely seen.

I started recording such acts of kindness at the start of first national lockdown in April 2020. Given my longstanding commitment to students as not only consumer but producers of knowledge, I brought students onboard. As we scrambled to turn our classes online, new possibilities for practical application of theory also emerged. In this case we studied the theories of representation whilst also contributing to the perception of South Africa and Africa through a digital project.

The collection included almost 2000 submissions of remarkable acts of kindness and care between everyday people resident in South Africa during the national lockdown. Much of it – particularly during the early phases of the lockdown – demonstrated the best of who we can be as a country.

The stories range from tiny interventions such as the sharing of a WiFi password to the exceptional, like allowing strangers to live in one’s house for as long as they needed to. Each intervention shows a response to the pandemic from a unique perspective as people did what they could to help each other in extremely unusual times.

ADVERTISEMENT

Our collective work has been published as a book of 50 stories of everyday kindness from around South Africa. They are illustrated by rising artist Jethro Longwe and curated by prominent Southern Africans involved in the pandemic response.

AlsoRead

The GLE and GLE Coupé: Bestsellers now even better

IFP closes all doors to any coalition talks with the EFF in KZN

Corrie Pretorius sentenced to 12 months in jail for racial attack on black boy

What we witnessed during the national lockdown was the absolute best of who South Africans can be. At a time of great challenge, they held one another up. As a scholar of post-war Angola I have learnt how valuable it is during troubled times to raise one’s gaze above what’s not working to look at what is working. Some South Africans have done so during the most trying periods of the Covid-19 pandemic.

When politicians floundered, community action networks sprung to action and distributed food parcels to those most in need. South Africans also supported essential workers.

Another lesson from the pandemic is that though the complexity of the national level is beyond most of our comprehension, we live in the micro, and that is where we can work. Through millions of small interventions, the country was held up and sustained in powerful ways that can, and should, continue long past the pandemic. Take the example of the Muizenberg Kitchen in Cape Town: it emerged as an urgent response to hunger in the community during the lockdown. Now it feeds hundreds of people every week and has become a sustainable example of community activism.

Why it matters

The project turned into a book after I realised what impact being asked to focus on everyday kindness had on my students. Many of them started the course cynical and angry about the various socioeconomic and political challenges facing South Africa. But by changing the lens through which they looked at the world around them, students reported an improvement in mental health. They became more optimistic. It also helped amplify their own acts kindness in their day to day lives.

This book reminds us of a time that was very challenging, but in which we changed the way we act to hold each other up. It reminds us that we can do this, and that most of us want to.

Through the 50 stories that it records, we remember the basic goodness in South Africans, and our desire to support one another across all kinds of divides and barriers. We cannot afford to “un-see” the best of us. We need to trust in our fellow citizens, and amplify the good.

Jess Auerbach, Senior Lecturer, Social Anthropology, North-West University and Jess Auerbach, Senior Lecturer in Anthropology, North-West University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Tags: South Africa
Previous Post

Isono 13 October 2021: On today’s episode – S1 E218

Next Post

Korsten taxi violence: Somali shops torched in revolt [video]

The Conversation

The Conversation

The Conversation is an independent source of news and views from the academic and research community, delivered direct to the public. Our team of professional editors work with university and research institute experts to unlock their knowledge for use by the wider public. Access to independent, high quality, authenticated, explanatory journalism underpins a functioning democracy. Our aim is to promote better understanding of current affairs and complex issues. And hopefully allow for a better quality of public discourse and conversation.

Latest Post

Scandal! 31 March 2023: On today’s episode – S7 E257

On today’s episode of Binnelanders 31 March 2023 S10 E155

On today’s episode of Uzalo: 31 March 2023 S7 E529

Suidooster 31 March 2023: On today’s episode – S7 E519

On today’s episode of 7de Laan: 31 March 2023 – S22 E5529

On today’s episode of Skeem Saam: 31 March 2023 S10 E450

Big cash prizes in 2023 Williams Hunt ISUZU Tuna Classic

  • About
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Corrections & Complaints
  • Contact Us
South Africa News, Entertainment, Lifestyle, Sport.

© saffarazzi.com. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy.
Saffarazzi, The Pavilion, Corner Portswood and, Dock Rd, Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, Cape Town, 8001, South Africa.
Tel: +27 21 140 3522, hello @ saffarazzi.com

No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • Technology
    • Cryptocurrency
  • ENTERTAINMENT
    • Soapies
  • LIFESTYLE
    • Viral
    • Food & Recipes
    • Soapies
    • Travel
  • SPORT
  • MOTORING
  • LOTTO RESULTS
  • About Us
  • Write for us!
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy & Terms
  • Google News
  • Corrections & Complaints

© saffarazzi.com. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy.
Saffarazzi, The Pavilion, Corner Portswood and, Dock Rd, Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, Cape Town, 8001, South Africa.
Tel: +27 21 140 3522, hello @ saffarazzi.com