Est 2009 Issue 27 - 2020 16 - 23 July 2020

Inner-City Gazette @ICG_Sales 072 824 3014 Inner City Gazette

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Dr Matshidiso Moeti

Johannesburg - The World Health Organisation (WHO) in Africa has joined immunisation experts in urg-ing the international community and African countries to ensure equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines. WHO regional director for Africa Dr Matshidiso Moeti says as the interna-tional community comes together to develop vaccines and therapeutics for Covid-19, equity must be a central fo-cus of these efforts. “Too often, African countries end up at the back of the queue for new tech-nologies, including vaccines. These life-saving products must be avail-able to everyone, not only those who can afford to pay,” Moeti says. WHO and partners launched the Ac-

cess to Covid-19 Tools (ACT) accel-erator to speed up the development, production and equitable access to Covid-19 diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines. It brings together leaders of gov-ernment, global health organizations civil society groups, businesses and philanthropies to form a plan for an equitable response to the Covid-19 pandemic. WHO is collaborating with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to ensure a fair allocation of vaccines to all countries, aiming to deliver two billion doses globally for high-risk populations, and one billion for low and middle-income countries.

The African Union has endorsed the need for Africa to develop a frame-work to engage in the development and access to Covid-19 vaccines. Countries can take steps that will strengthen health systems, improve immunisation delivery, and pave the way for the introduction of a Co-vid-19 vaccine. These include mobilising financial resources; strengthening local vac-cine manufacturing, and regulatory, supply and distribution systems; building workforce skills and knowl-edge; enhancing outreach services; and listening to community concerns to counter misinformation. Globally, there are nearly 150 Co-vid-19 vaccine candidates, and cur-

rently 19 are in clinical trials. South Africa is the first on the conti-nent to start a clinical trial, with Wits University testing a vaccine devel-oped by the Oxford Jenner Institute in the United Kingdom. “I encourage more countries to join these trials so that the contexts and immune response of African popula-tions are factored into studies. Africa has the scientific expertise to contrib-ute widely to the search for an effec-tive Covid-19 vaccine. Our research-ers have helped to develop vaccines which provide protection against communicable diseases such as men-ingitis, Ebola, yellow fever and other common health threats in the African region,” says Dr Moeti.

Call for access to Covid-19 vaccinesThe South African Ox1Cov-19 Vaccine VIDA-Trial is expected to involve 2 000 volunteers aged 18-65

Pedros chicken has opened a branch at the heart of Hillbrow, Johannesburg. You don’t really know what chicken is supposed to taste like if you have never experienced the novel method of spicing that Pedros Chicken has on offer. You know your pal-ette is well taken care of when you have a choice between basting sauce or sprinkle on chicken, served with spicy chips, garlic rolls or jalapeno poppers. And that does not even begin to scratch the surface of what this restaurant has on offer.

The clean and uncluttered approach to the store design is something that will catch your eye while relaxing you at the same time. Best believe, that is not an easy feat to accomplish. But the woody and earthy feel, given a fresh spin by trendy hues, warm lighting and inspiring design does the trick in an intricately exciting way. The ambiance created by the food and the design is deli-cately balanced by the big hearts of the staff members exuded on their beautiful smiles. Be careful, Pedros Chicken is addictive!

Hillbrow, bracE yoursElf! you’rE about to tastE tHE DiffErEncE!!!

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Partnership delivers data-free Covid-19 information

Jenna Delport

The World Health Organiza-tion (WHO) has partnered with

Facebook and South African based Praekelt.org to provide data-free in-formation on Covid-19 to vulnerable communities across the globe. This is said to add a vital element to the organisation’s work to fight misinformation and ensure access to accurate health information and re-sources on Covid-19. WHO director-general Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus said: “Through this col-laboration, we will reach some of the most vulnerable people who will be able to access lifesaving health infor-mation without any data charges in more than 50 countries.” The collaboration uses Free Basics and Discover by Facebook, provid-ing people access to useful services on their mobile phones in markets where internet access may be less af-fordable. The websites on Free Basics and Discover by Facebook, including WHO’s Covid-19 platform, are avail-able without any data charges. Based on a founding premise that ac-cess to information is a fundamental right, Praekelt.org has worked with Free Basics and Discover by Face-book for several years. Among past projects was the Praekelt.org Incu-bator for Free Basics with Facebook programme; which provided NGOs and social enterprises with the sup-port and tools they needed to deliver services to poor and marginalised communities via mobile. Praekelt.org MD Debbie Rog-ers says: “After a successful WHO

Health Alert launch on WhatsApp in March we are honoured to be able to continue our partnership with the World Health Organization and Face-book, to extend the accessibility of vital Covid-19 information and re-sources as the corona virus acceler-ates globally.” The partnership has resulted in an easy-to-navigate WHO mobile web-site that provides detailed advice for the public, including how to protect yourself and others from Covid-19, myth busters, and how best to look after your physical and mental health. There is also a dedicated section for healthcare workers, which includes advice on the use of masks, the rights and responsibilities of health work-ers, and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE). Along with up-to-date information and statistics, WHO’s Covid-19 in-formation in Free Basics and Discov-er, also includes the latest WHO news as well as a selection of questions and answers that address some of the defining issues around Covid-19, including violence against women, pregnancy, childbirth and mass gath-erings. The website is being launched in English, with French, Spanish and Arabic to follow; and other languages to be added as they become available.

WHO director Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus

Author Carol S. Dweck is known for her work on the mindset psycho-logical trait, where the ‘fixed mind-set’ approaches learning from the point of view that you are born with certain skills and abilities. The other side of this coin is the growth mind-set in which skills are viewed as competencies which can be learned and developed. “Places of Higher Education need to embrace the growth mindset. Implementing the principle of sub-ject-specific and soft skills develop-ment, students must engage in an academic institution’s programme that aims to ready them for the workplace.” So says Ari Katz, CEO of Boston City Campus. “We re-quire all Higher Education students to complete a module of Work Inte-grated Learning,” he says. “Play-ing a key role in providing practical, on-the-job training in a student’s particular field, the programme pro-vides skill learning in an actual work context.” “Our aim is on equipping students with top workplace skills, as well as vital professional and interpersonal skills, in order to facilitate ease of employment on completion of their studies at our campuses,” says Katz. All higher places of learning need to in some way provide practical work experience and training as part of their curriculum in order to adequately prepare graduates for the ‘real world’. “If they fall short of this require-ment, they send out graduates that fail to secure employment. This may be due to lack of exposure to the workplace and its expectations of day-to-day workplace behav-ior such as dress code, interaction with colleagues, and participating in tasks outside the scope of what is

written in the employment contract,” says Katz. “We prepare our graduates with training and graduate competencies that put them in a position to walk straight out of their studies and into a job. Our focus is on incorporating WIL into all degrees and higher ed-ucation, ensuring that our students are work ready,” says Katz. The programme is very success-ful. At the Boston Media House it is overseen by Jeannette Campbell who manages the work integrated learning on a fulltime basis. Pro-viding a bridge between the host company and the student, opportu-nity is created to harness key skills through experiential learning. In this capacity, Jeannette further solidifies corporate relations, underpinning Boston’s pivotal role in supplying top graduates in various industries over the last three decades.

“Students are actively assisted with their CVs – we actually mark them! While we play an active role in guiding them where to go and what to do, the onus is on them to get the placement,” says Katz about facilitating real life practice for when they’re out in the workplace getting a job. The WIL programme allows the host company to gain insight into the skill level of the student. “Our programme has proved success-ful, the greatest success being in-stances where the work integrated learning has resulted in permanent employment at the host company,” says Katz.Northern Cape graduate, Elton Kag-isho is one such example. “”Boston goes all out to help students de-velop key skills through on-the-job training within qualifications. In this way we are ready for the workplace from the day we leave,” says Kag-isho who is now part of the prestig-ious State Information Technology Agency (SITA). “As educators, we are committed to ensuring that our graduates are equipped to make a valuable con-tribution to the workplace, while fur-thering their careers. This means adopting a growth mindset, where developing and refining skills is a natural means to achieving com-petency as well as in a particular industry. In turn, this enhances the gradu-ates’ chances of being employed. We provide a balanced higher education, giving our graduates an edge which in turn enables them to differentiate themselves in the highly competitive job market,” con-cludes the Boston CEO.

Call 011 551-9000, e-mail info@boston.co.za, or visit www.boston.co.za.

ari Katz

SA inStitution AlignS itSelf for grAduAte plAcement And Alignment with corporAte SA

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Johannesburg - City Parks has said as parks open, so that residents can keep healthy by exercising near their homes, the onus is on them to observe safety pre-cautions against Covid-19 infection. To allow for a phased-in ap-proach because of limited re-sources, City Parks said na-ture reserves, including The Wilds, Kloofendal, Klipriv-ersberg and the Johannes-burg Botanical Gardens will open from 1 August. Mandatory requirements for park visitors are that they wear face masks; practise minimum social distancing of three metres; events or gatherings are not allowed; ensure hands are washed and sanitised before enter-ing parks; exercise only with persons within your house-hold, limited to five people; refrain from using ablution facilities and playgrounds; remind children that use of the gym and play equipment is restricted; take all disposables home, includ-ing empty bottles and paper cups; leave all valuables at home to avoid opportunistic crime; and abide by existing public spaces bylaws. Joburg Community Development MMC Margaret Arnolds warned residents that re-

sponsibility to pre-vent the spread of the corona virus re-mains in the hands of every park user. “The presidency has heard your call to open up parks, particularly for resi-dents who do not have access to space to exercise. Respon-sibility therefore to exercise with cau-tion, lies in the hands of every individual. Common sense must prevail. If you are feeling unwell, self-isolating or if there are too many park users, then protect your loved ones by staying at home,” Arnolds said. She also urged resi-dents to carry their own sanitiser when

they visit the parks as a safety precaution. City Parks said it had also been affected by Covid-19 infections, resulting in some depots being temporarily closed to enable operational and security staff to self-isolate. “Delayed opening of conservation areas and nature reserves is due to scarce resourc-es and need for employees to be issued with proper personnel protection.” Arnolds said.

Residents urged to observe safety precautions in parks

MMC Margaret Arnolds

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The UJ engineering team with their 3D printed ventilator

Woman’s death “disguised as suicide”

Johannesburg - The University of Johannesburg (UJ) engineering team has developed mechanical ventila-tors that can provide oxygen to mul-tiple patients. The engineering team uses 3D printing in the production of the equipment. The device, called the Aura Imprimere, meaning a ‘breeze of air’ provided by printing, is about the size of two laptops and can run on batteries for over an hour.

Senior lecturer at UJ’s mechanical engineering sciences department, Dr Nkosinathi Madushele said it basi-cally automates the operation of an ambu-bag, a simple hand-held de-vice used to provide positive pres-sure ventilation to patients. “The electronic parts of the ventila-tor are to control how much pressure goes into the patient’s lungs, as well as the controller, which regulates the pressure,” Madushele said.

He added that they were in talks with medical experts to ensure the device could perform under different in-hospital scenarios. “This will be developed by chemi-cal and electrical engineers, so we need technicians’ inputs now,” he said. The team will be making the soft-ware and designs freely available, to ensure any producer around the world can manufacture the device.

UJ team develops mechanical ventilator in Covid-19 fight

Katlehong - A 31-year-old woman was allegedly killed by her boyfriend on Friday night. The woman, Thokozile Kubheka died in Extension 16 in what police believe was a cover-up to make it ap-pear as a suicide. Her sister Thande-

ka said her family found out about the death on Saturday night after failing to reach her on the phone. “Before that I had called her to check if she was okay because her neighbour had said she was being beaten by her boyfriend,” she said.

She said on Friday evening she spoke to the boyfriend on the phone, who said they wanted to be left alone to fix their issues. “With some fam-ily members we went to their place and found her body in the bedroom with a rope around her neck, and had

bruises all over.” Thandeka said the deceased had two children.Her cousin Thulani Jokoto said they will ensure that she gets justice. Police spokes-person Captain Piet Rossouw said the deceased was found with a rope around her neck, with no vis-ible injuries on her body except around the neck. “Further investiga-tions revealed the possibility that the victim could have been strangled and an attempt made to let this look like suicide,” he said.

Expert advises on when to get to a hospital over Covid-19

Professor Shabir Madhi

Johannesburg - Professor Shabir Madhi, who is on the Covid-19 Advisory Council to the Depart-ment of Health and heads the vac-cine trials, has advised South Af-ricans to immediately seek help if they have chest pains and short-ness of breath. “The main symptoms of low ox-ygen are chest pain and difficulty with breathing; and dizziness fol-lows as one fails to get enough oxygen to the brain,” he said. Madhi added that people should seek assistance immediately if they experience chest pains, shortness of breath, light-head-edness or confusion, as these are signs that oxygen levels are not adequate. Rapid breathing is also a sign, he said. “If you are taking more than 20 breaths per minute, then you need to receive oxygen,” he said. He added that between 12% to 14% of those hospitalised around the world lose their lives. Another way to check oxygen levels is with a pulse oximeter, but these are not readily available to the public in South Africa. Said Professor Madhi: “A pulse oximeter is good to have, but is not readily available. It’s a small device that clips onto the finger and measures oxygen saturation levels, and outside of hospitals, one is most likely to see them in an ambulance or a nursing home.” Some may try to measure their

own oxygen with smartphone apps or fitness trackers, but Brit-ish general practitioner Ann Rob-inson told The Guardian that there is no evidence that these gadgets are accurate enough for this purpose. In a small percentage of Co-vid-19 cases, a person can suffer from silent hypoxia, where there is no way of knowing that oxygen levels have dropped to very dan-gerous levels. This was first reported in Chi-nese studies but there was no in-dication of how commonly this occurs. Cases then showed up in Europe and the UK. A letter to the British Journal of Anaesthesia suggests that silent hypoxaemia could result from one’s oxygen and carbon dioxide being low, because if only your oxygen is low, it is high blood carbon dioxide that usually causes breathlessness. The World Health Organisation (WHO) advises that if one has minor symptoms, such as a slight cough or a mild fever, there is generally no need to seek medi-cal care. The organisation advises such people to stay at home, monitor their symptoms, and follow na-tional guidance on self-isolation. “People must get medical atten-tion immediately if they have any breathing difficulties or pain or pressure in the chest,” WHO says.

‘People should seek assistance immediately if they experience chest pains, shortness of breath, light-headedness or confusion, as these are signs that oxygen levels are not adequate”

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ACDC director John Nkengasong

AU launches consortium for Covid-19 vaccine trial

Last year’s winner Mbangiso Mabaso (second left) with Sne Dladla, MTN manager Zane Oostendorp and Kholofelo Magagane

Ishani Chetty

Aspiring entrepreneurs and digi-tal innovators have been urged

to apply for the MTN Business App of the Year Awards; where the win-ner gets a trip valued at R200 000 to a tech-related destination. The MTN Business App Academy will provide a six-week online cod-ing programme; which feeds into a new category for the app awards, specifically for the developers who went through the academy. MTN Business head of market-ing Kholofelo Magagane says the awards eco-system continues to evolve and expand. “It is now a year-long initiative focused on producing the highest calibre of cutting edge and market-ready solutions. We are building a future pipeline of digital brilliance to ensure communities can harness benefits of the digital economy and the fourth industrial revolution,” Magagane says. Three of the top apps from the

MTN Business App Academy will be provided mentorship to develop their apps into fully-fledged solu-tions. In addition ‘a go-to-market strat-egy’ will be developed to implement the solutions, done by identifying a customer faced with problems the solutions can help solve. “It is encouraging that we will be reaching new audiences and lay-ing foundations for more people in South Africa to benefit. As a cham-pion of app development talent, the awards will uncover and celebrate local impact-makers, and out-of-the-box tech thinking that drives change,” says Magagane. Developers selected for the acad-emy will participate in a six-week online coding programme. The ob-jective will be to solve a common social challenge facing the country, such as access to education, safety and access to health.In the second phase, selected app de-velopers will take part in a 72-hour hackathon. Participants will have to

use their skills to develop their solu-tion with a team of tutors available to assist. Solutions developed through the hackathon will be entered into the ‘Best Breakthrough Developer’ and ‘Best Youth App’ categories and will be part of the overall awards judging process. The competition will be carried out through a virtual process with more than 1 000 leading app develop-ments and key stakeholders taking part. “I encourage all aspiring innova-tors to enter and showcase their tal-ent as we develop the ICT industry,” adds Magagane. The overall winner will win a trip to a tech-related destination valued at R200 000. The top three ‘Best Youth App’ entrants will receive a share of R100 000, first place wins R50 000, second place R30 000 and R20 000 for the third-place winner. To enter, app developers can submit their entries before 29 September 2020 on www.appoftheyear.co.za.

Call for entrepreneurs to enter app awardsJohannesburg - The Africa Cen-tres for Disease Control and Pre-vention (ACDC) has launched a consortium aimed at securing more than 10 late-stage Covid-19 vaccine clinical trials as early as possible. Africa CDC director John Nken-gasong said: “We want to be sure we don’t find ourselves in the 1996 scenario where HIV drugs were available but it took almost seven years for those drugs to be accessible on the continent. With

any Covid-19 vaccine, a delay in Africa of even one year would be catastrophic,” he said. He added that the consortium of African institutions will engage with the GAVI vaccine alliance and others outside the continent amid efforts to ensure that a vac-cine is distributed equitably from the start. “And with misinformation around vaccine trials spreading in Africa, the trials would help build community trust,” he added.

“We want to be sure we don’t find ourselves in the 1996 scenario where HIV drugs were available but it took almost seven years for those drugs to be accessible on the continent”

Brixton - On Monday a security guard was shot and wounded by armed robbers at a petrol station in Brixton. Police spokesperson Captain Mavela Masondo said the gang had robbed the petrol station. “They took an undisclosed amount of money, car keys and a cellphone. When they went out-side, they spotted the security

guard. They ambushed the guard while he was cleaning his com-pany car’s windscreen and dis-armed him; and during the alter-cation, the guard was shot in the leg. He was subsequently taken to hospital,” Masondo said. He added that police traced the gang to Denver and seized the ve-hicle used in the crime; and two men were taken for questioning.

Gunmen shoot security guardA screenshot from the CCTV footage from the shooting

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16 - 23 July 2020 inner-CiTy GazeTTe 7 tHE arts

uotaBle uotesQ

by ProPHEt PHiliP banDa

samukelisiwe Mfuphi

The Academic and Non-Fiction Authors’ Association of South

Africa, (ANFASA) has announced the next round of the grant scheme to benefit authors of scholarly and non-fiction works. Scholarly works are normally based on research and cover a wide range of disciplines in the humanities, social sciences and arts. The AGSA scheme encourages young researchers in par-ticular to communicate through the written word and build their academ-ic careers through writing of schol-arly monographs. Grants are reserved for books rather than articles, although a compilation of essays would be eligible. A general non-fiction work could be

a biography or an autobiography; a history of a town or a region or a reli-gion; a book about music or sport or theatre; a political or social analysis; an account of everyday life in a town-ship; a book about nursing, or cook-ing, or fashion, or fishes, or tradition-al medicines, or cars. Those are just a few of the many supported topics. However, if selected, only ANFASA members may actually receive an award, so if not already a member you are urged to apply through www.anfasa.org.za. The grants provide about R30 000 to be used for an author to take leave, for instance, and devote to writing; or travel to conduct research. It could also be used for equipment to con-duct interviews. The grants are for research and writing, and not to cover

publishing costs of manuscripts, al-though a grant could also be used to cover some editing costs. The selection committee aims to of-fer awards to a wide-ranging group of authors and subjects. The process will respect the need to treat new and ex-perienced authors equally; to bear in mind authors writing in rural as well as urban locations; and consider au-thors at all levels of education from the untutored to the degreed. The scheme especially encourages applications from young authors at the start of their careers.Applications for books written in all the official languages will be equally considered. Those interested may visit the site www.anfasa.org.za to apply online or send an e-mail to info@anfasa.org.za.

Grant scheme to fund writersAn account of everyday township life is also welcome

Busi Nyandeni

The Goethe-Institut SA has opened applications for its

Goethe-Institut Project Space (GPS) grant. The grant caters for visual arts, performing arts, film, music and more. Applications for the 2021 grants are now open, and close on 17 August 2020. The Goethe-Institut launched the Goethe-Institut Project Space (GPS) grant in 2016, a project space support programme for work realised in any part of South Africa; ranging from workshops to exhibi-tions, events and performances; in any discipline including visual art, performing arts, film, music or combinations of those. GPS project co-ordinator Saman-tha Modisenyane said the purpose is to support artistic projects devel-oped, created and managed by arts professionals in partnership with community spaces within South Africa. “GPS awards R60 000 to six suc-cessful applicants, selected by a jury consisting of previous GPS grant recipients and other arts pro-fessionals working successfully in the local arts industry. The crite-ria for projects that should apply

are outlined on the GPS page on the Goethe-Institut South Africa website. People interested in ap-plying should read the information carefully, study projects that were previously funded and apply that to their applications and proposals. At the end of the day, the jury decides and selects projects with a great artistic concept; the connection between the art, space and com-munity where the project happens, and great project management are always considered,” Modisenyane said. For more visit https://www.goethe.de/ins/za/en/kul/sup/gps.html.

Goethe-Institut grant applications open for artistes

Co-ordinator Samantha Modisenyane

for All yourpAnel BeAting And

SprAy pAinting

Contact: Charles on 060 738 8851

sports Reporter

The Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) and World Cup

qualifying matches may not be possible this year due to the Co-vid-19 pandemic, but there will be sufficient time next year to catch up, according to Fifa. The governing body origi-nally allocated four two-match windows for Africa next year, March, August, September, October and November. It has since added a four-match win-dow next June, raising to 12 the matches teams can play, if safe health conditions exist. Africa needs 12 days to com-plete qualifying as Afcon re-quires four and the World Cup eight. Matches planned for March, June, August and Sep-tember this year were cancelled

due to the Covid-19 pandemic, except in Burundi, where it con-tinued with crowds. There are two-match windows this October and November, but there is doubt on whether African teams will be ready to restart. Confederation of African Foot-ball (CAF) president Ahmad Ahmad warns about rushing to resume before the pandemic is contained. “We need to be careful on restarting our qualifying com-petitions; we dare not send our footballers back into action pre-maturely,” he said. Ahmad added that Caf would heed the World Health Organ-isation (WHO) advice and na-tional health departments before any restart decisions are made. “Decisions we make today

regarding the pandemic can be overtaken by tomorrow,” Ah-mad said. The 2021 Afcon has been set back one year to January and February 2022, and the March and June windows could be used to complete qualifying. There are 12 groups of four with the winners and runners-up in all but Group F securing places at the finals. Cameroon qualify automati-cally as hosts, but are in Group F to gain competitive match practice, leaving Cape Verde, Mozambique and Rwanda to fight for one place. If CAF decide to use March and two June match days for the Afcon, World Cup qualifying matches could start in June, and continue in August and Septem-ber, October and November. CAF President Ahmad Ahmad

Hope for resumption of African soccerThe 2021 Afcon has been set back one year to January/February 2022, and the March and June windows could be used to complete qualifying