This archive report was first published on 16 July 2020.
On July 13, 2020, Zindzi Mandela, the youngest daughter of former South African President Nelson Mandela and anti-apartheid activist Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, passed away in a Johannesburg hospital at the age of 59.
According to the Mandela family, Zindzi tested positive for Covid-19 on the day of her death, a fact that was initially not confirmed but later made public as the pandemic threatened to close schools again.
Her son, Zondwa Mandela, stated, “Simply by virtue that there was a positive test, we are therefore obligated to function and work within the framework of the existing regulations related to such cases.”
Her death has brought home to even the most reluctant South Africans the necessity of taking the pandemic seriously and that no-one, regardless of their station and status, is immune from its worst effects.
As the country grapples with the pandemic, teachers and parents are still not happy with plans for further re-opening amid repeated outbreaks in schools. The SA Democratic Teacher’s Union (SADTU) has previously said that it would pull all its members from classes if re-opening proved unsafe.
With at least seven students dead due to Covid-19 infections that are likely to have taken place in re-opened schools, and at least dozens – likely hundreds – of teachers either severely affected or dead, almost all teacher representative bodies now want to stop classroom learning immediately.
Some unions have pointed to the example of Kenya which cancelled the 2020 academic year, saying that the risks of proceeding with even a stripped-down school year are just too great.
