Our political class has been vocal in its condemnation of the murder of George Floyd. It has been quick to align itself to the #BlackLivesMatter movement. His death is a clear wrong, and happening far away enough it requires no action of them here. An easy win.

In the two week of Floyd protests, excessive plumes of black smoke poured out of the smokestacks of the Engen refinery in the South Durban Basin. This sparked a wave of respiratory illness and other health problems, according to the residents of Wentworth. That refinery, along with its peers, has been polluting people’s lungs for decades. Engen denies this.

South African industries have consistently denied a link between their activities and children with asthma or animals dying in polluted rivers. It can hardly be a coincidence that people who live near sources of pollution get sick and die.

Everyone is affected by pollution, but it is the poorest — black people — who paid and still pay the price. These are people who were forced to live next to steel mills by the apartheid regime, or who cannot find anywhere else where they can afford a family home.

This treatment of black lives as inconsequential is woven into this country’s fabric. The colonial system expanded by killing the original owners of the land. Without land to eke out a living, people had no choice but to work in the mines and factories, living in areas designated according to colour.

Since 1994, we have had excellent legislation to control pollution, but business has continued as usual. Although the new environment minister recently said pollution control measures will be enforced.

In South Durban, those with money live on the top of the hills facing the ocean, where the fresh air is, above Wentworth, Austerville, the Bluff and Treasure Beach, the areas most affected by the recent emissions. Government has done little. This is despite the area being a hive of strong environmental action and protest. An activist from the area won the Goldman Prize, considered the most prestigious environmental prize in the world, for their opposition to industries such as Engen.

That refinery has dragged protestors to court to take away their right to protest for the right to breathe clean air. It is hard to imagine this happening if these were white, wealthy lives. And it is not a unique situation. Poor people sucking in pollution is the norm in South Africa. Companies cutting corners and saving money is the norm because pollution doesn’t show up on their balance sheet. Black people dying as a result is the norm.

If black lives really mattered to our leaders, we would take pollution seriously.

Few countries in the world were well-prepared for the coronavirus. Even some of the best-funded, most well-equipped health systems have struggled to cope. In hard-hit Italy and Spain, annual government expenditure on healthcare per capita is more than $1 800, more than twice the global average. In the UK, it’s more than $3 000.

Sudan is less prepared than most. Its government spends less than $100 per capita every year on healthcare. It has 10 times fewer doctors per person and eight times fewer nurses than Italy and Spain. In the whole country, there are fewer than 200 intensive care beds, for a population of 42-million people.

But Sudan has one factor that doesn’t appear on World Health Organisation databases and that most countries don’t have — neighbourhood resistance committees. There are hundreds of these committees around the country, typically comprising 40 or so volunteers ranging in age from 17 to 70, although most are in their twenties. They came to prominence early last year during the country’s revolution, when they organised local protest marches against the brutal 30-year rule of dictator Omar al-Bashir.

Throughout the six-month uprising, they braved tear gas, beatings and live bullets fired by security forces that killed dozens of committee members. In the capital, Khartoum, together with hundreds of thousands of other protesters, they staged a sit-in outside military headquarters, which precipitated Bashir’s removal in a military coup.

Bashir was replaced by a transitional government comprising military and civilian arms, which has embarked on an ambitious project to return the country to democracy.

The coronavirus pandemic came at a bad time for Sudan’s fragile transition. The health effects are a test of the competence of the civilian-run ministry of health, but the virus’s economic ramifications are perhaps an even greater threat. With inflation already running at more than 80% and the value of the Sudanese pound plummeting against the dollar, curfews have brought a halt to an economy that was in dire need of a boost.

Rising bread and fuel prices were the spark for the uprising against Bashir, and many Sudanese citizens are worried that if the economic misery intensifies, the risk of a coup by military members of the government or by one of the country’s many armed groups will increase.

The neighbourhood resistance committees see themselves as the guardians of the revolution and, to help the democratic process to stay on track, they have mucked in to combat the pandemic. Hashim, an IT engineer who spends his spare time volunteering for a resistance committee in Khartoum, told me that, before the virus hit, they were still holding marches to put pressure on politicians.

“We’ve also been painting revolutionary artwork and writing music,” he said, “and we’re exposing corruption and trying to solve problems with transport and food shortages. We take on any role that advances the revolution’s objectives of freedom, peace and justice.”

Another young resister is Hadara (it’s still not considered safe for them to give me their full names). He and his peers have been making hand sanitisers, using alcohol that is sometimes used for making illegal liquor in a country in which Sharia law is still in place.

“The health infrastructure is hugely depleted,” Hadara tells me. “If Covid-19 explodes in Sudan, I’m afraid the health sector won’t be able to cope. We try to help them because we want the revolutionary government to succeed.”

The hand sanitisers are distributed to street vendors, street children and to Khartoum’s tea ladies, a few of whom can still be found sitting under trees in the dust serving hot drinks to physically distancing customers. The committees have also helped to sterilise markets, mosques and bus stands; to monitor the queues outside bakeries to make sure people stand sufficiently far apart; and to educate their neighbours — in face-to-face sessions, on social media and through street graffiti — about how to protect themselves from infection.

The committees get their information on the coronavirus from government briefings and from the Sudanese doctors’ committee, which was also active during the revolution and whose members were the subject of particularly violent persecution Bashir’s security forces.

Dr Salma, a cardiologist, reports that resistance committees were already helping to renovate hospitals before the coronavirus struck. “Now they are fixing ventilators and hospital beds, too,” she says. “Everyone works on their own speciality, but together we complement each other.”

The committees are also helping to mitigate the economic effects of the disease. They distribute bread, sugar and cooking gas to people who are confined to their homes. They deliver food to street children. And they are helping to identify the poorest families in each neighbourhood — the ones whose survival depends on earning a daily income — so that they can receive help from the government.

Mohamed Kamal, whose family have been in quarantine for two weeks in their home in Omdurman after his father contracted the virus, says support from the resistance committees, some of whose members have been given permission to move around during curfews, has been invaluable. “They’ve been delivering groceries to us,” he says. “Our relatives and friends can’t get to us because of the curfew, so help from within the neighbourhood has been really important.”

Although their work is making a difference, some resistance committee members are keen to get back to more traditional revolutionary activities. “Our task,” says Hashim, “is to keep up the pressure on the government, expose corruption and make sure each minister and state governor is doing the right things to help our revolution to succeed. It shouldn’t be up to resistance committees to deliver coronavirus services. But because the government hasn’t been able to carry out its duties at the local level, we have no choice but to get involved.”

Mark Weston is a consultant and writer based in Khartoum. He is the author of the West Africa travel memoir The Ringtone and the Drum. This piece was first broadcast as a radio feature on BBC Radio 4’s From Our Own Correspondent

Senzo Mkhize was in the middle of writing a test when he lost network coverage. He attempted to log back on to the online platform to finish his test, but it would not allow him to.

He got 15 out 100 for that test.

“The network coverage here is so poor that sometimes I have to go up the mountain just to have a better signal,” he told the Mail & Guardian.

But this is not Mkhize’s only struggle. He did not have money for data for online learning. His mother, the only breadwinner in the household, did not make money during the lockdown because she is self-employed.

On days when Mkhize did have data he would log on to the online learning system only to establish that there was a test that was going to be written the next day or that an assignment was due.

All of this left the fourth-year B.Ed student at the University of Zululand discouraged, and it  forced him to take a difficult decision.

Mkhize deregistered from his course last month. “It was not an easy decision to make but conditions were dictating otherwise,” he says.

Mkhize was not writing tests or submitting assignments and he figured that it would be better to continue with his studies next year. “To tell you the truth, I was really struggling,” says Mkhize, from Empangeni. He says although his family was not happy with this decision, they supported it because they saw what he was going through.

In April, UniZulu announced that it had negotiated zero-rated data with MTN, Telkom and Cell C in so its students could access teaching and learning on its online platform without incurring data costs.

But Mkhize uses Vodacom, so he missed out. In any case, this would not have addressed his problem with the network coverage. He says it took him time to arrive at his decision because he had hoped for an announcement to allow students who were battling to study at home to return to campus.

Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister Blade Nzimande made that announcement last month; on Monday he published directions for the phased-in return of students to campuses.

As of June 1, under level three, higher education institutions are allowed to have 33% of their students return to campus. These students comprise mainly final-year students, those who need laboratories, and all students needing clinical training.

The return to campus came a little too late for students like Mkhize. Although he was a final-year student, he says he was so far behind with his studies that he did not see the possibility of passing.

None of the universities have yet said when the level-three category of students will be back on campus.

However, in the gazette, Nzimande said the institutions need to consider a number of factors, because they allow for the phased-in return of staff and students to campus and residences.

Only staff and students who have received communication from their institution that can return to campus and residences. They will be issued with permits by the institutions.

The directions say that all first-year students in undergraduate programmes will return to campus in level two while the rest of the student population will be back in level one.

This week the first group of learners, grades 7 and 12, returned to their classrooms after schools were closed on March  18. The Mail & Guardian asked two grade 12 learners to write about their experiences of returning to school during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

One is from the renowned Mbilwi Secondary School in Sibasa in Venda, Limpopo. The school produced the likes of University of Johannesburg vice-chancellor Professor Tshilidzi Marwala and is known for producing remarkable matric results. 

The other learner is from Lindley, a small town in Free State, and attends Phukalla Secondary School in Ntha township. 

Fulufhedzani Mutengwe

Mbilwi Secondary School in Limpopo 

Returning to school after almost two months of being at home has been a bit weird, because we are not used to this life. We are not used to a life where we have to put on our face masks on a daily basis at school, not being able to touch or hug our class friends. 

Our principal, deputy principal and a doctor addressed us on how we will have to carry ourselves now at school. We have been provided with masks and face shields. 

When we enter the main gate at school we have to queue to get screened and sanitise our hands before going inside. 

Things have changed a lot. We are now forced to bring our own water bottles and lunch boxes because the spaza shops are not opened. The good thing is that there are only 20 of us in a class so we are able to practise social distancing. 

During break we were not allowed to mingle with one another and we were not allowed to go outside. Everyone remains in class and we eat our food on our desks.

Teachers will no longer come to our desk and assist us one on one, there will be no more group discussions. This is so we can practise social distancing.

But when we are outside the schoolyard going home, things change. People start hugging each other, removing face masks, they do not keep social distance and they get on public transport that is full. 

All of this is against the school rules. It looks like we will only practice the rules inside the schoolyard only. 

Mpho Ntsoahae

Phukalla Secondary School in Ntha, Free State 

Have you ever been caught between a rock and a hard place? That is how I felt when the minister of basic education [Angie Motshekga] announced the reopening of schools on June 8.

I was in two minds about going back to school, especially now because there are many cases of the virus. But I also had to think about my future. I thought to myself, “What will happen if the virus is here in two years time? Does that mean I will never go back to school?” 

I decided to go. 

It was so strange to arrive at school after two months of being at home. The school principal told us that we had to be at the school at 7.15am. When we got there we had to wait to get our temperatures checked and get our hands sanitised before we were allowed inside the yard. We are not used to that. 

Things are so different from what we know. We cannot sit together as friends. We eat in class during our lunch break and we are only allowed to go outside for a few minutes. 

You know, back then you would go to someone’s desk and ask them something that you did not understand, but now we cannot do that anymore. 

We have to remain at our desks to keep a social distance. 

I am worried. I’m not free at school. I am wondering if someone has the coronavirus in my class or if I also have it. We have not been tested for it. It is scary. 

The minister also announced that we will be writing a fully fledged exam. I am very worried about how I will perform because I aim to obtain 80% and above in all my subjects so that I will be able to get a bursary.

When we were at home I tried catching up on my school work. I made myself a study timetable for all my subjects. I was studying two subjects daily and spent about two hours per subject. 

It was a struggle doing all of that without a teacher. I feel that as grade 12 learners we are being put under a lot of pressure. 

I will not lie and say I am not nervous about my results, but I just have to remain optimistic. And no matter the challenges we are facing I will never be discouraged. 

After President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement of the risk-adjusted strategy of moving South Africa to level three of lockdown, the explosion of Covid-19 cases was expected.

But the exponential growth is being particularly felt in provinces that had to contend with a only handful of cases for the past two months. The Northern Cape — South Africa’s largest province by geographical area, but smallest by population — saw its caseload more than double in the
first week of level three, from 43 cases to 102.

As of Wednesday night, the number of cases in the province stood at 125, with one death.
Speaking to the Mail & Guardian, Premier Zamani Saul resigned himself to the fact that the province’s case numbers would increase. Through no fault of his citizens, he added, but from the partial opening of interprovincial movement.

“It’s quite clear: the more the lockdown regulations are relaxed, the more we will see a spike in the level of transmission here,” he said. Saul is particularly worried about municipalities bordering neighbouring provinces — small towns like Colesberg and Petrusville in the Pixley Ka Seme
district municipality border the Free State and the Eastern Cape.

The Eastern Cape is a Covid-19 hotspot, with 7 154 cases as of Wednesday. To the west of the province, the Namakwa district — with towns like Springbok and Calvinia, which branch off from the N7 highway running from Cape Town in the Western Cape — is also under constant scrutiny from the Northern Cape.

“I don’t know what’s the solution. We have roadblocks [to screen people for symptoms], and it is quite clear that those roadblocks aren’t very effective … We’re worried about the people coming from Cape Town. Our patient-zero case, in the Francis Baard municipality, was people who went to a churchservice in Bloemfontein. And [together] with the Eastern Cape, they account for a number of cases in our province,” the premier said.

Saul suggested that provinces and districts with high rates of transmission should remain at higher levels of lockdown to protect their neighbours.

The Western Cape is of particular concern. With 36 021 cases as of Wednesday, it is the epicentre of the outbreak in South Africa, accounting for as much as 65% of Covid-19 cases nationally.

There is regular movement of road freight, public transport and migrant workers on the N7 highway along the west coast, the N1 inland, and the N12, which passes towns like Victoria West and De Aar, through to Kimberley. Saul said these routes brought the virus to his province. “Areas of high levels of transmission, based on a case-by-case study, must have higher levels of lockdown. The Northern Cape can easily go to level two. We are in a much better place than any other province in the country,” he said.

The province, with a population of 1.2-million people — about 2.2% of South Africa’s total population — has now had to prepare for an increase in Covid-19 cases.

“We are preparing for the worst, but hoping for the best. We have field hospitals with 2 000 beds dedicated to Covid-19 around the province, including extra ICU [intensive care unit] beds.

“And while the number of cases doesn’t place much of a burden on our public health system currently, we are preparing for the wave. It’s like we’re preparing for war here, but we hope it won’t reach that level,” Saul said.

Major industries like mining have been put on high alert, not only because of workers’ health and safety, but also because of their economic effects on
the rest of South Africa.

The province accounts for 85% of the country’s iron-ore mining and, as been the site of increased exploration for copper, cobalt, and manganesedeposits in the past five years or so.
In recent weeks there have been reports of cases in and around mining towns like Kathu in the Gamagara municipality, about 300km northwest of Kimberley.

“When mines were operating at half capacity, we had no cases of any outbreaks. Even with the increased capacity of mines, our mines have such stricter health protocols, even maybe stricter than some of our public-health facilities. That really is assisting us to help keep our numbers down,” said Saul.

But the province has shown some successes in mitigating the spread of the virus, despite the increase in numbers over the past two weeks. De Aar in the Emthanjeni municipality, Hantam municipality, and Sutherland’s Karoo Hoogland municipality have seen single-digit cases for several weeks.

This has been ascribed to a 500-member team of contact tracers that have crisscrossed the 372 889km2 province when new cases have been identified.

“As soon as there’s a positive case, we release those tracers to pick up each and every individual that has been in contact with a positive case. That has been working. People have been going into self-isolation, and if they are unable to, we quarantine them,” the premier said.

An executive at the City of Johannesburg’s power utility, City Power, is under investigation for allegedly using his teenage son’s company as a front to score kickbacks from companies contracted to the City.

In following the money, the Mail & Guardian has traced millions from City Power projects that were channelled into a network of companies and individuals, who allegedly have links to Percy Mphahlele, the utility’s general manager in charge of capital contracts related to the building of substations, service connections, bulk supply, electrification (including of informal settlements), street lights, cabling, metering connections and protection.

Some of the money ended up in the bank account of Hlelele Power Projects, whose sole director is Mphahlele’s 19-year-old son, Prince Mphahlele. Prince is also a business partner of 37-year-old Moloshi Seanego, who owns Anego Africa Power, a company allegedly sub-contracted by some of City Power’s contractors. 

The M&G has tracked at least R300 000 that was paid to Hlelele Power Projects in a space of a month between April and May. 

The payments have raised suspicions about conflict of interest and who the ultimate beneficiary is. The concept of ultimate beneficial ownership is used by law-enforcement agencies in money-laundering investigations and refers to a juristic individual who, despite not appearing on company documents, effectively controls and benefits from that company. 

The R300 000 payments are part of about some R6.8-million paid to Anego Africa Power by three City Power contractors, Nolewu Construction, Mohlawe Technology, and Machite Engineering. There is no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of these companies and the payments could have been for work done, which they claim to be the case.

According to company records, Anego was registered last July, about the same time that Hlelele was registered. Curiously, the records also show that Seanego and Prince are co-directors in Mokgalaka Power Technology, which shares the same business address as a former Anego Africa director, 21-year-old Phomelelo Maja.

Both Seanego and Prince also seem to have used the same Orange Grove address — barring what appears to be a typo — as their residential addresses in company records or when applying for finance. 

City Power, the City of Johannesburg’s power company, operates with at least a R2.9-billion budget a year and has been dogged by allegations of corruption for years. The City has also said its energy infrastructure is old, needs constant maintenance and has to be upgraded to ensuring people keep getting electricity. Last week the company’s board informed staff that chief executive Lerato Setshedi had agreed to take special leave after allegations of impropriety by a whistleblower.

The three companies that made payments to Anego Africa are part of a panel of companies that were awarded millions worth of contracts. 

According to a whistleblower’s report to the City’s anti-corruption unit connections, which is backed up by the money flows, these companies are a means to get money back to Mphahlele sitting as the general manager of City Power.

“These companies are given most of the subcontracting work on City Power projects and the person responsible for allocating is none other than Mphahlele. It is believed Anego made several deposits into Hlelele Power Projects [owned by Mphahlele’s son] as kickbacks for the work done, or as a vehicle to launder money,” said the whistleblower.

The M&G understands the whistleblower has handed over the information, including contacts, company records, and bank statements to the City of Johannesburg’s Group Forensic and Investigation Service (GFIS), as well the Hawks. 

Sifting through dozens of pages of Anego’s business account bank statements, the M&G found that money flow was erratic. There were also about 40 cash withdrawals made from the account, amounting to more than R234 000.

For a company that is meant to be a subcontractor on electrical contracting projects, the account is used for anything from purchases at grocery stores to petrol, home-building supplies and paying for Nando’s takeaways and meals at popular eateries in the Waterfall precinct.

The statements, which cover the period between March and May, show e-wallet transactions to dozens of cellphone numbers, amounting to more than R37 000.

The business account also shows that more than R140 000 has been used for shopping at Pick n Pay, Checkers, Builders Warehouse in Rivonia, Clicks and Doppio Zero, among others. 

Anego’s statements also show the company received a little under R1.8-million from Machite Engineering, R3.2-million from Mohlawe Technology, and about R1.6-million from Nolewu Construction during this period. 

These companies were each awarded in 2019 work worth R19.5-million to install and maintain streetlights around Johannesburg

Koketso Maphothoma, a director of Mohlawe, said his company paid Anego for subcontracting work it did on the streetlight contract. 

“We have multiple subcontracts on our projects, and for this one we used five companies, including Anego,” Maphothoma said. “When people come looking for subcontracting work, we never know who they are other than what’s on the paperwork. In any case, we could never have known who Anego pays or what they do with their money … Once we pay them, we really have no say.” 

Machite’s Virginia Teffo said only that Anego was a subcontractor before requesting emailed questions. She did not respond to the emailed questions. Nolewu Constructions’ Brandon Louw could not be reached on the cellphone numbers listed for him. 

City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said the utility’s board was informed by GFIS, headed by former Gauteng Hawks commander General Shadrack Sibiya, about the allegations. 

“City Power takes any allegations of corruption in a very serious light. Should there be substance in the allegations, appropriate action will be taken against the implicated individuals in line with City Power internal policies and procedures, he said. “In the event that any action against certain employees is necessary, the media will accordingly be appraised of any such steps. 

It is understood the investigation by GFIS is looking at these payments, as well as further monies paid to Hlelele Power by Anego. 

More than a week ago the M&G sent questions to Mphahlele at City Power, as per his request, but he never responded, not even to follow-up WhatsApp messages. The M&G asked Mphahlele if he was using his son’s company, Hlelele, as a front to receive kickbacks; whether he was running the affairs of the company; and what the relationship was between all the companies. The M&G has been unable to reach his son, Prince, as there are no listed contact details in his company records. 

Enter Seanego’s relative, Joe 

Attempts to reach Seanego of Anego Africa were unsuccessful as well; he did not respond to questions sent via text message and WhatsApp. But a relative of his, Joe Seanego — who owns a similarly named company, Anego Power Consulting and Projects, and previously worked at City Power — met the M&G. 

Joe, who is the chairman of football club Baberwa FC, denied any knowledge of Anego Africa or the payments to Mphahlele’s son’s company. But the M&G was able to link at least one payment of R10 000 from Anego Africa’s records to a staff member at Baberwa FC.

This week Joe confirmed that he has known Mphahlele, as well as his son, since childhood, but he denied any knowledge of payments made by Anego Africa Power.

“I don’t want to comment, because most of those allegations are not true and most of these things are internal fights [against Mphahlele]. I will clear my name with the Hawks. My name is just being used in these fights. My company which is consulting, is not getting any money from anyone,” said Joe.

He said people were trying to discredit him because of his involvement in football as the chairman of third-tier league club Baberwa FC. “This is not a good story at all because it is going to damage my team. I have to look after the players and this is not good. This boy [Prince] is still at school and this story is going to damage the boy,” said Joe. 

Joe’s denials are contradicted by company records, which show that the two Anegos share the same business address on Stirrup Road, Midrand Johannesburg.

Until now it has been flu, fever, stomach bugs and minor bruises that we have had to deal with when it comes to the health of our boys.

I am also raising a son living with autism so that also makes things adventurous in our household.

Enter Covid-19. This is new to us all. Scary. You cannot help but being anxious when you think about how deadly the virus can be.

But I have learnt that knowledge is the best defence in tackling everything.

My husband has been the researcher throughout this period, reassuring us as a family. And when sharing knowledge, we make sure the boys understand what we’re explaining to them.

When the announcement came that schools would be reopening I was surprised. I had thought, for some reason, that was something that wouldn’t happen anytime soon; that schools should be the last institutions to open.

This is partly because schooling for many families, like mine, is not as easy as a child waking up and going to school.

For example, my son Lwandle, who is in grade 7 uses public transport to get to school and back. I thought about the risk involved in this exercise, especially knowing that children will be children and they might not adhere to the physical distancing rules.

Children at his school can maintain distancing in the classroom and adhere to other regulations. But as a parent I couldn’t help wonder how I could be certain that he would be protected when he is out there and not at home.

My anxiety has not been about Lwandle alone. My biggest concern is about his brother, who has had lung infections in the past. Lwandle will come back to us as a family from school where he could have been exposed to the virus.

On Monday morning I woke up and I must say it was not the usual school day that we know in our household.

While preparing him for school I had to drum this message into his head over and over again: “Lwandle, please make sure you do not touch your face when you have the mask on, remember to wash your hands and your hand sanitiser is on the side of your bag.”

I did this even though in the days leading up to the reopening of schools we planned and prepared him as much as we could.

But I still think to myself that all of this is too much for a 12-year-old, even though he is positive and looks forward to seeing his friends.

The whole of Monday I kept reminding myself that I have prepared him the best way I could and that I must trust him.

I think everyone has been focusing on adults in terms of jobs, loss of income and everything else that has changed our lives because of Covid-19. But our children’s lives have also changed a lot — from being with friends daily to having to stay at home. Now they have returned to “a new school”.

But as a family, in consultation with the school, we have decided that we will not be sending Lwandle to school daily. He will be doing most of his school work at home. We have also decided that he will no longer use public transport and that his dad will take him to school.

These are the compromises we have had to take as a family to ensure our safety and his.

Life must at some point get back to normal and we can only pray for the best.

This week, Bongekile Macupe invited Chulayo Thapelo Mthembu to write her regular Education Matters column