Self-isolating? Here’s a story from South Africa to make you feel grateful and a little uncomfortable (and perhaps inspire you to act)

Being from the Netherlands whilst living in South Africa reminds me every day of how incredibly privileged I am. The stark inequality here in Cape Town often makes friends who visit us from Europe feel uncomfortable. They ask us how we manage to live here, having to face these differences on a daily basis. We always tell them that we believe that it’s better to be aware than to be ignorant; if you step in the plane back to your home, people don’t just miraculously stop living in their shacks. The COVID-19 crisis makes the stark inequality in our society even clearer. Whilst my friends in the Netherlands complain about self-isolating being so hard, and about the government only compensating their lost salary from being self-employed up to EUR1,000 (whilst they still have savings in their bank account), I feel like we could all do with some awareness of what this pandemic means for a country like South Africa.

Image by Gareth Hubbard, The Way Between

The virus has arrived here as well. It travelled by plane with people who can afford to do so. By the time I’m writing this (20 March 2020) there are 150 confirmed cases. Think about what is going to happen as COVID-19 spreads through the lower-income part of the country, which it inevitably will. First of all, this will be a public health disaster incomparable to anywhere in Europe. Currently South Africa’s healthcare system is already overloaded. Every day, hundreds of people are dying from tuberculosis. South Africa has the biggest HIV epidemic in the world, with 7.7 million people infected, which is 20% of the total population. This means there’s a large part of the population who are vulnerable to the Coronavirus. Many people in townships don’t have water in their homes, and have to walk to a tap to be able to wash their hands. They live close to each other. They are dependent on public transport in over-crowded taxi-buses. When the virus hits the townships, it’s going to hit hard. ‘Flattening the curve’ will be extremely difficult.

On Sunday our president Cyril Ramaphosa declared a National State of Disaster, with measures including closing schools and limiting large gatherings of people. He did not impose working from home, but the small percentage of the population who can work from home, is doing that already anyway. Being able to self-isolate is a privilege. The rest of the country has to go to work to be able to work. But there soon won’t be work for a lot of them. The restaurants and bars are empty now. There are no tourists left — whilst Cape Town largely relies on income from tourism. I guess it’s like anywhere else: only the supermarkets are crowded. And government-enforced close-downs might follow. Now think about how people living in the townships make their money. Most families don’t have any savings, and operate on a day-to-day or week-to-week basis to survive. They usually depend on cash from one family member who has a job. Think about all these people working in the service industry who, as of this week, are starting to lose their income or their jobs. All the waiters, the hairdressers, the hotel staff, etcetera. It’s all the people who were so kindly serving you if you ever visited Cape Town; the people who’s smiles and chats you enjoyed so much, because they made you surprised about how friendly this country is. It will be a socio-economic disaster that’s scary to think about.

And the South African government is already broke. It won’t be able to borrow money cheaply, like countries in Northern Europe for instance. The ‘cannon’ with economic stimuli which the Dutch prime minister promised to shoot into the economy, will probably be more of a ping pong ball here. The government promised to come up with measures to support businesses, but nobody is expecting miracles.

Our president, Cyril Ramaphosa, called specifically for the more wealthy people in this country to support the poorer. This country will rely mostly on civil action to get through this crisis in a non-devastating way.

Many people here are thinking of ways to contribute, to support. But I think we could perhaps use some help from people who are not in South Africa. Who are living in an economy which is stronger, and who have more ability to absorb a loss of cash income. I think effective distribution of cash to support the people who take the hardest economic knocks in this country is going to be vital.

This is not just a story — it’s a call for collaboration. If you have ideas, or you want to contribute, please reply to me or under this article. I’ll be working on some more tangible stuff in the coming days, but I thought I’d start with this article to get your minds involved as well.

Here’s what I’ve been thinking of doing, and what I heard people do:

• I’ve been trying to get payment apps which are mostly used in small cafes and restaurants to add a function where their customers can donate money to their favourite restaurants, to help them and their staff survive. Both Snapscan and Zapper have reacted positively and are currently seeing whether this is technically and logistically feasible.
• I’ve approached the CEO of OrderIn, a Food delivery app here in Cape Town, with the same idea. No reaction yet.
• Amava Oluntu, an NGO managed by a friend of mine, is working to distribute data/wifi vouchers to people who need them. Most people here rely on prepaid vouchers and if they don’t have cash, they won’t be connected. Whilst connection and information are vital these days
• A colleague from New Zealand suggested that the government puts people who lost their jobs to work in restoration efforts (tree planting, alien invasive clearing) which can be done whilst maintaining social distance in countries as large and wide as SA and NZ
• I thought there might be a possibility to raise funds from people who can afford it (also in my own network) to support people who are economically affected here in South Africa. Everyone who’s ever visited this country and felt slightly uncomfortable about their position, should contribute I think. Remember that what’s small money for you, is big money for someone paying R600 rent a month (about EUR35) in a shack in Nyanga (a township here in Cape Town). I’m thinking of ways to get these funds managed and distributed effectively.

This is just a snapshot — there’s lots of stuff happening. What I’m trying to do is to see what my mostly ‘Northern’ network can do…

Ideas very welcome.

Thanks guys,

Thekla

(Footnote: I’m writing this on 20 March, and the situation changes daily, and so will this perspective. So apologies if you read this later and stuff in here is outdated. Also I am no expert at all — I’m just someone living in Cape Town seeing what’s happening here, feeling like this story should be told, and shared.)