October 2021

How is your thesis coming along and what are you working on at the moment?

I have clearance and approval from the Western Cape Education Department! This means that I can now finally start with data collection, however I am not allowed to do any testing at the schools due to exams etc. So, I am currently speaking to and familiarizing myself with the principals etc. so that when schools reopen next year, I can start with the data collection.

Covid cases are increasing again because of the colder season in Europe. What is the situation like in Cape Town? What level are you in and did anything change?

Nothing has changed in Cape Town. We are still on level 1, but the cases are slowly picking up again.

You don’t have to answer this one if it is too personal, but did you have any covid cases among friends and family? Do you have any experience how cases are handled at the hospitals etc.?

I had COVID myself or symptoms of it in December and my mother had it too, so it was very close to home.

Are schools and universities back to normal classes or still online?

Both schools and universities are still online, nothing has changed.

How do you feel Covid has affected the work situation in South Africa? Do you think many people lost their jobs? Do you feel there are more crimes on the streets (or even less or no change at all)?

It has changed the dynamic drastically, a lot of people lost their jobs and many places had to retrench their workers or they were given less money because of the amount of days and hours that they are working. However COVID wasn’t all bad, because a lot of people also started their own businesses and they are flourishing and if it wasn’t for COVID they would have still being stuck in that other jobs!

Do you feel you have missed out in many things because of Covid?

Not really, because of COVID a lot of things have changed and it has also changed my perspective on how I approach life and things around me.

On to nicer topics: do you have any nice activities planned in the next few weeks?

I am not sure, another thing COVID has taught me is that you must live in the moment, and you can’t really plan because anything can happen. However, it is my birthday next month and many of my close friends are celebrating their birthdays too, so we will be celebrating that!