Since time immemorial, the court jester has always been held in high regard by the masses, and with good reason. Now David Scott is no idiot or fool, but he has perfected the art of satire - especially when satirising the highest members of South African society. What is the role of satire if it has a role at all in tough times? How has The Kiffness developed from a small band into an industry leader in South Africa? How does a partner adjust to living with a creative soul in a confined space? How long does the process of creating his songs take? What’s lockdown been like for a social commentator, since he can’t get out to interact with the world? His response about his wife and how happy they are together is something to be cherished for life. May the road rise to meet you too good sir!
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”These people have regressed!” This is how Tumi Morake speaks about her own children and their struggle to adapt to the Covid-19 lockdown. This might explain why her children say she is driving them crazy. An interesting decision was made about leaving their new home in America to go and join family elsewhere in the States, and the situation has turned into a real life sitcom. With her usual wit and candour we hear about her struggles with mental health and how that battle is going in these self-isolation times. If you plan for a rainy day in Rands but now the rain comes in Dollars, what then? A fascinating revelation about what they could sacrifice as a family following coronavirus only goes to show how conscious the comedian is. Which softer sides of humanity will we see following this pandemic? And the Covid-19 lockdown rule number one... ”Embrace your rotundness and let the kids be free willy!"
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What happens when you have an immune challenged or compromised child, and the most contagious health pandemic of the modern age strikes... how should a parent react to this? Should America be copying China with their measures to control their citizens? Should the response be taken to the federal government in the fight against Covid-19? The things we take for granted like a take-away meal are not what they were - Jen gives her tips about how to be safe from infection from your food containers. The fashion industry has pulled together which is brilliant news. Build up your strength, you are going to need it, Covid-19 is just getting started unfortunately!
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Is information overload better or worse than no information at all in a pandemic? What does a doctor do when he’s stuck on the West Coast of America, but he lives on the East Coast? In a bittersweet sequence of events, a new life has joined the Goodman family, while so many are clinging on to theirs. Dr Dennis Goodman (Clinical Professor of Medicine & Director of Integrative Medicine: NYU) unpacks the essence of what we understand about Covid-19 from a medical point of view at this stage. Price gouging with ventilators has reared its ugly head in America, but the US government has come to the rescue. The greatest challenge we now face as humanity is that, to truly comfort those you love, you have to stay away from them. The good doctor urges us to practice humanity... even if it’s just a virtual hug.
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"Perfection is the enemy of the good when it comes to emergency management!" So said Dr Mike Ryan of the World Health Organisation when asked how Covid-19 could be contained. Poignant words indeed especially considering the pandemic which the world is gripped by currently. The Italian Chamber has a bilateral allegiance to both South Africa and Italy, and the latter has been ravaged by Covid-19. Will South Africa learn from Italy's unfortunate circumstances? If Pamina Bohrer has anything to do with it, both countries can rest assured they have a heroine who will do her utmost to ensure both nations prosper. She speaks about what geo-political and global economic landscapes may look like after Covid-19, where hope has sprung eternal before, and what her role is in liaising on behalf of the land of Picasso in Madiba's Rainbow Nation.
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South Africans aren’t taking Covid-19 seriously enough, and if the current civil disobedience continues, Siv Ngesi believes we will have mass graves or have to burn bodies! Never shy of poking the social bear, this self-professed Adonis lookalike funny man believes any social distancing measures we implement in South Africa cannot mirror those of the first world, as the shoe doesn’t fit in our context and the cost of copy paste policy implementation in this case could be tens of thousands of lives. The expansion of Pornhub to the premium package for free has left many a man with too many choices, or is that a ridiculous statement in these times? There’s a dark all too real Covid-19 fear deep in the heart of the silver screen star though, and it’s haunting and personal.
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Are there any comforts within the shared experience of a global pandemic? Art is food for the soul and J'Something is an artist who loves his fans and being on stage performing. What is the life of an artist like in lockdown? With an album launch around the corner, can technology help him to creatively release the album without touring, and have it be feasible? Church Bells is the new single which is out now from Mi Casa, with the new album launching in May 2020. J shares some incredibly moving thoughts about what he hopes the world at large may look and feel like post Covid-19.
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What's it like to test positive for Covid-19, and what is the mental side of being diagnosed with such a virus? With a surname like Mandela, there is an honour and lineage of greatness to carry. Ndaba Mandela and his team have started The Mandela Institute for Humanity. The values and principles of his grandfather are transferable in his mind, and they have grounded him in everything he is emploring us all to take up as Africans. How should we deal with 21 days of lockdown? What lessons can we as humanity learn from this pandemic? Apparently green fingers, and something else which is green, are the way forward.
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#LivingInLockdown: Justice Malala
The rate at which the world switched from analogue to digital is amazing, the new normal is online now. How does a man whose job it is to report on the news and the fabric of society stay sane in lockdown? What role does Justice Malala's wife play in his morning routine, even though she’s in America while he sits in Kalk Bay, Cape Town? As the individual cost of not connecting physically with others comes to the fore, we need people to also report on the possible socio-economic factors at play daily in this pandemic economy. Can the country afford to deal with an outbreak of Covid-19? There’s a fine line between social obedience and tyranny, is South Africa’s military putting large scale public safety on a knife edge? We've seen military and state vehicles in townships before, but last time we had Nelson Mandela to placate the restless masses... can Cyril Ramaphosa do the same?
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