As the year slides into mid-November, it feels that 2020 has almost run its course. I spent some of the annus horribilis updating existing CNN International Inside Africa inserts I produced in previous years to show how South Africans were dealing with the restrictions triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. The experience of revisiting places and people I had got to know in happier times, and hearing their lockdown stories, was uplifting and humbling.
Joanna Dobinson jumping her bike for joy at being let out on to the G-Spot Trail after lockdown kept athletes in Stellenbosch inside, limited to indoor trainers
The lockdown hit hard, particularly in the arts, entertainment, tourism and sporting sectors; the financial taps ran dry and people were facing the stark reality of the collapse of their professional infrastructures. This anxiety about the future of many jobs and institutions, as well as livelihoods, remains as we edge towards Christmas. Our initial lockdown in South Africa in April, May, June and July were severe, with access to beaches denied, and bans on the sale of cigarettes and alcohol. Initially outdoor exercise was prohibited and then allowed only for a few hours a day. Luckily, we have passed to happier, more relaxed times as we now linger in Level One and are legally allowed sundowners.
Safer Roads 4 All campaign got permission to do a safe driving demonstration during Lockdown, with DJ Ready D, Anwar Daniels and the team streaming the event on Facebook and other platforms. DJ Ready D worked the internet to keep up his connections wtih his car crazy and hip hop community, while raising money for food parcels.
In most instances we budgeted for a single day shoot to update each insert, and then asked people we had previously interviewed to film their own Covid visuals and send them on to us. Some found posing in front of their mobile phones and talking directly to an imaginary producer easy; for others it was a real challenge and took some time and effort. (We had one interview done entirely in slow motion!) We supplemented the shoots with Webex interviews, which I learnt how to do by trial and error. Once you know how, it seems easy…. but in the beginning it felt like a scary new digital world. And in all these ventures, I was horribly dependent on the stability of the internet and our far from trustworthy electricity supply to complete my tasks.
Test driving online interviews with my family to get familiar with the controls….and pick up tips from the tech-generation
If one thing unites us through the pandemic, globally, it is the shift to digital portals to find connection, meaning and employment. I salute those who have embraced this new way of interacting, particularly when done with very few resources and limited access to data, as is the case in much of Africa.
Interviewing Nolu Maha of the Masidlale Project, the outreach programme of the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra. During Lockdown children had to take lessons online and there was a scramble to find money for data to make this possible.
To see some programmes already broadcast on CNN International, please click the links and enjoy a 2020 retrospective on the COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa. These programmes have been part of my personal and professional journey this year and I reflect on them with gratitude - thank you to the people who helped make them possible, and thank you to those same people for giving me hope through their resilience and determination.
The Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra strikes a digital note….
Back on their bikes…. the moment after lockdown stopped them in their tracks, local cyclists got back in their saddles to reclaim their trails and races
DJ Ready D and the petrolheads of Cape Town stream their smoke and slide….
Spier Wine Estate digs deep into fertile ground to sustain its community during Covid…
Megan McCarthy at home in a vegetable patch on Spier Wine Estate - during the extreme lockdowns Spier provided food parcels, including fresh vegetables and seedlings, to the local community