When SA had the first reported case of Covid-19 on March 5 2020, we were concerned as a country, but not overly bothered.
The virus seemed a remote possibility at that time. We were well aware of the impact of the disease on other countries and we hoped sincerely that we would not be impacted as heavily.
However, from early on the World Health Organisation was predicting that we would have a widescale pandemic.
On March 15, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the country would be going into a 21-day lockdown from March 26.
This announcement brought home the stark reality that the pandemic would be impacting on us severely.
The biggest concern was that when the pandemic took hold and community spread happened, the already strained health-care system would not cope.
These drastic measures had an immediate impact.
Jobs were lost by the thousands, with the travel and hospitality industries hit particularly hard.
The informal sector, where women traders are highly prevalent, also bore the brunt of the measures.
This led to serious income insecurity.
The president announced a series of measures aimed at being a financial buffer for those who lost jobs.
Companies that reported they were unable to keep their staff were offered a grant and requested not to terminate work contracts.
Grants were made available to the unemployed, older persons, the disabled and children.
The day after the president’s lockdown announcement, Masimanyane’s six-person management team moved into top gear.
Governance
We started by developing a policy on the handling of epidemics and pandemics. This was presented to the board of directors for input and eventual acceptance.
The board was presented with a proposal on how we would implement lockdown strategies and it, in turn, provided guidance on how it thought we should proceed.
Operational strategies
Sections of our organisation are deemed essential services and we recognised that these would have to continue operating practically as before, but protective measures had to be adopted.
We agreed that most of the services would be continued remotely but the community education and community campaigns had to stop.
We developed a remote working protocol to set out all the counselling methodologies, most of which would have to be provided online.
We conducted an audit of staff resources such as telephones, laptops and tablets to determine whether we were able to provide the counselling online.
We engaged various companies deemed necessary to assist with tech support where required.
Our biggest challenges have been in relation to digitalising processes and systems within the organisation and for external engagement with all other stakeholders.
We continue to struggle in this area as most people do not have the requisite instruments, knowledge, training or know-how to use all the platforms that are currently being utilised.
Data challenges
Remote working proved to be a very expensive exercise because we were purchasing so much more data and providing it to so many more people within the organisation.
This was something we had not budgeted for so it was managed by taking funding from the travel and transport budget.
Health support
We knew that most staff suffered some or other health challenge.
Some people live with HIV, others with diabetes and many others suffer from hypertension.
All these compromise the immune system and this was a concern for the organisation.
Masimanyane has always provided health support to staff and so we purchased health remedies like ginger, lemon and garlic health drinks.
We also suggested other kinds of immune system boosters.
Transport
We immediately realised that we needed to provide safe transport to the people who operate the 24-hour services at the shelter and at the Thuthuzela centres.
We asked staff to contract private vehicles to transport them safely to and from the hospitals and shelter.
This was an additional cost for the organisation but it was an important way of reducing the risk to staff.
Food security
Many people in local communities were left starving due to the lockdown.
Women are largely employed in survivalist jobs in the informal economy and this was hardest hit due to the lockdown.
So it was still critical to provide food security to the families of these women.
The state provided some relief through the provision of food parcels which could sustain a family of four for a month, but much of that was impacted by corruption so many people who were desperately hungry did not access this support.
Where the schools in poor communities normally provided at least one government-subsidised meal a day, the burden to provide that meal now fell on women and families as a whole.
Masimanyane was approached to assist in some communities in alleviating this hunger.
We did a small fundraiser and were able to purchase food parcels which were distributed to families of disabled children, some soup kitchens and others.
Mental health challenges
Clients
We observed that clients had heightened levels of anxiety and fear, and the isolation caused depression.
We had to refer several clients to the consultant psychologist to assist with these problems.
We found that staff suffered tremendous anxiety and fear due to the virus.
A great deal of psychological support was provided.
Liability
Our current community educational programmes are key to our behaviour change strategy.
But we now face the real challenge in that our community work can no longer happen face-to-face and in the form of in-person dialogues — it is too big a risk for both staff and community members.
In assessing the risk, we realised that this was not possible because if anyone was infected due to their community work, there would be a significant liability placed on the organisation.
We are back at the drawing board.
All in all, the management team and support staff developed strategic interventions, responded to various crises and supported each other, which enhanced the responses to Covid-19.
Impact of Covid-19 on Masimanyane Women’s Rights International
Lesley Ann Foster, executive director of Masimanyane Women’s Rights International, explains how the organisation has dealt with the challenges brought about by the pandemic
When SA had the first reported case of Covid-19 on March 5 2020, we were concerned as a country, but not overly bothered.
The virus seemed a remote possibility at that time. We were well aware of the impact of the disease on other countries and we hoped sincerely that we would not be impacted as heavily.
However, from early on the World Health Organisation was predicting that we would have a widescale pandemic.
On March 15, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the country would be going into a 21-day lockdown from March 26.
This announcement brought home the stark reality that the pandemic would be impacting on us severely.
The biggest concern was that when the pandemic took hold and community spread happened, the already strained health-care system would not cope.
These drastic measures had an immediate impact.
Jobs were lost by the thousands, with the travel and hospitality industries hit particularly hard.
The informal sector, where women traders are highly prevalent, also bore the brunt of the measures.
This led to serious income insecurity.
The president announced a series of measures aimed at being a financial buffer for those who lost jobs.
Companies that reported they were unable to keep their staff were offered a grant and requested not to terminate work contracts.
Grants were made available to the unemployed, older persons, the disabled and children.
The day after the president’s lockdown announcement, Masimanyane’s six-person management team moved into top gear.
Governance
We started by developing a policy on the handling of epidemics and pandemics. This was presented to the board of directors for input and eventual acceptance.
The board was presented with a proposal on how we would implement lockdown strategies and it, in turn, provided guidance on how it thought we should proceed.
Operational strategies
Sections of our organisation are deemed essential services and we recognised that these would have to continue operating practically as before, but protective measures had to be adopted.
We agreed that most of the services would be continued remotely but the community education and community campaigns had to stop.
We developed a remote working protocol to set out all the counselling methodologies, most of which would have to be provided online.
We conducted an audit of staff resources such as telephones, laptops and tablets to determine whether we were able to provide the counselling online.
We engaged various companies deemed necessary to assist with tech support where required.
Our biggest challenges have been in relation to digitalising processes and systems within the organisation and for external engagement with all other stakeholders.
We continue to struggle in this area as most people do not have the requisite instruments, knowledge, training or know-how to use all the platforms that are currently being utilised.
Data challenges
Remote working proved to be a very expensive exercise because we were purchasing so much more data and providing it to so many more people within the organisation.
This was something we had not budgeted for so it was managed by taking funding from the travel and transport budget.
Health support
We knew that most staff suffered some or other health challenge.
Some people live with HIV, others with diabetes and many others suffer from hypertension.
All these compromise the immune system and this was a concern for the organisation.
Masimanyane has always provided health support to staff and so we purchased health remedies like ginger, lemon and garlic health drinks.
We also suggested other kinds of immune system boosters.
Transport
We immediately realised that we needed to provide safe transport to the people who operate the 24-hour services at the shelter and at the Thuthuzela centres.
We asked staff to contract private vehicles to transport them safely to and from the hospitals and shelter.
This was an additional cost for the organisation but it was an important way of reducing the risk to staff.
Food security
Many people in local communities were left starving due to the lockdown.
Women are largely employed in survivalist jobs in the informal economy and this was hardest hit due to the lockdown.
So it was still critical to provide food security to the families of these women.
The state provided some relief through the provision of food parcels which could sustain a family of four for a month, but much of that was impacted by corruption so many people who were desperately hungry did not access this support.
Where the schools in poor communities normally provided at least one government-subsidised meal a day, the burden to provide that meal now fell on women and families as a whole.
Masimanyane was approached to assist in some communities in alleviating this hunger.
We did a small fundraiser and were able to purchase food parcels which were distributed to families of disabled children, some soup kitchens and others.
Mental health challenges
Clients
We observed that clients had heightened levels of anxiety and fear, and the isolation caused depression.
We had to refer several clients to the consultant psychologist to assist with these problems.
We found that staff suffered tremendous anxiety and fear due to the virus.
A great deal of psychological support was provided.
Liability
Our current community educational programmes are key to our behaviour change strategy.
But we now face the real challenge in that our community work can no longer happen face-to-face and in the form of in-person dialogues — it is too big a risk for both staff and community members.
In assessing the risk, we realised that this was not possible because if anyone was infected due to their community work, there would be a significant liability placed on the organisation.
We are back at the drawing board.
All in all, the management team and support staff developed strategic interventions, responded to various crises and supported each other, which enhanced the responses to Covid-19.
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