Cyril Ramaphosa

The world is in the throes of a public health emergency on a scale not witnessed in over a century.
 
The spread of the coronavirus, which causes the disease known as COVID-19, has been alarmingly swift and widescale, and is now defined as a global pandemic.
 
It knows no geographical or territorial boundaries, has infected both young and old, and is on the rise in developed and developing countries alike.
 
As screening and testing is scaled up, the number of infections in South Africa is expected to rise.
 
Yesterday, I declared a national state of disaster, a measure proportionate to the severity of the threat to our people, to our society and to our economy.
 
This will enable us to have an integrated and coordinated disaster management mechanism and to set up emergency, rapid and effective response systems.
 
This virus will be extremely disruptive, and our priority is to safeguard the health and well-being of all South Africans.
 
We also have to address the inevitable economic fallout.

We must expect a decline in exports, a drop in tourist arrivals and a severe impact on production, business viability and job creation and retention.
 
Cabinet is in the process of finalising a comprehensive package of interventions to mitigate the expected impact of COVID-19 on our economy. This is being done in consultation with business, labour and other relevant institutions.
 
It was Louis Pasteur who said that fortune favours the prepared mind.
 
South Africa is prepared, and has been so for some time.
 
Since the outbreak was first reported we have acted to put screening and containment measures in place.
 
Our national response has been driven by an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) chaired and ably led by the Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize.
 
The manner in which the IMC and the support teams have responded to this emergency has been both exemplary and reassuring, particularly in helping to quell public panic.
 
I will be chairing a National Command Council to coordinate all aspects of our national response.
 
South Africa has a positive track record in managing public health emergencies.

We have the knowledge, the means and the expertise.

Our scientists and epidemiologists are world-class.
 
As was announced yesterday, we have put a raft of emergency measures in place, and will make funding available to support their implementation.
 
They include travel bans on visitors from high-risk countries; mandatory testing, self-isolation or quarantine for South African nationals returning from these countries; and strengthening surveillance, screening and testing at ports of entry into the Republic.
 
Social distancing is critical if we are to contain the spread of COVID-19.
 
Gatherings of more than 100 people are prohibited and mass celebrations of national days are cancelled. Visits to all correctional centres are being suspended for 30 days with immediate effect. Non-essential international travel for government officials has been proscribed and non-essential domestic travel discouraged.
 
A total of 35 land ports and two sea ports will be closed, as will schools from the 18^th of March until after the Easter weekend. We will soon be announcing measures with regards to universities and colleges.
 
Next month will be Easter, a sacred period for a number of faiths and a time in which mass services and gatherings will take place. The faith community should take decisions in this regard in the best interests of the health of their congregants and the country as a whole.
 
Hygiene control should be intensified in all sectors.
 
Every citizen should take charge of their own safety by observing measures such as frequent hand-washing with soap or hand-sanitizers and covering their nose or mouth with a tissue or flexed elbow when coughing or sneezing.
 
As part of our national effort the Department of Health will continue with an intensive and ongoing campaign to raise awareness about prevention, transmission and infection symptoms. I encourage all South Africans to acquaint themselves with the relevant preventative material.
 
These measures are similar to those in other countries, and it is important we all understand that they are not punitive but a matter of public safety.
 
One of the greatest dangers at this time is ignorance and misinformation.
 
We should stop spreading fake and unverified news, especially on social media. This can exacerbate an already tense national mood and damage the national effort.

We must also not give in to the expressions of bigotry that we have seen in other countries directed at nationals of countries from where the outbreak began or the current epicenter in Europe. This is clearly a virus that affects people of all nationalities.
 
Let us lower the wing of compassion to those who are infected, and to those who have returned home from high-risk countries.
 
Let us assist those in need and those more vulnerable, instead of shunning them. We will remain faithful to the values of tolerance and respect that define us as a people.
 
On behalf of all the people of South Africa I thank the team who repatriated our compatriots from Wuhan, China, as well as the leadership and people of Limpopo who are assisting with the quarantine process.
 
This is a difficult time.
 
And yet it is in times of adversity that our strength is revealed.
 
We will act decisively, with determination and with purpose. We will act as a collective, for it is upon the actions of every South African that the success of our efforts depend.
 
The Thuma Mina moment is upon us, perhaps as never before.
 
This too shall pass.
 
We shall overcome.
 
We are South Africans

Charles Molele

President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that schools will be closed on Wednesday following a decision by Cabinet to take ‘urgent and drastic measures’ to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus.

As the number of infections from the coronavirus rose to 61 on Sunday, Ramaphosa also declared a “national state of disaster” in terms of the Disaster Management Act.

The president also imposed a travel ban on foreign nationals from high-risk countries such as Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom and China as from 18 March 2020.

“Schools will be closed from Wednesday, 18 March, and will remain closed until after the Easter Weekend,” said Ramaphosa.

“To compensate, the mid-year school holidays will be shortened by a week.”

Ramaphosa said government was working closely with colleges, universities and other public facilities such as Parliament, prisons, police stations and military installations to intensify hygiene control.

He said government was aware of the confirmed case of a student who has tested positive for the coronavirus at Wits University.

“Those who have been in contact with the student will be quarantined. The Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation is consulting with vice chancellors of universities and colleges across the country and will soon be announcing measures in this regard,” said Ramaphosa.

Meanwhile, Wits University has cancelled classes and other academic activities as from Monday 16 2020.

Graduations ceremonies at the university have also been postponed.

Kenya has suspended learning in all institutions of learning after confirming the third case of coronavirus.

Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe announced that two people who had sat next to the first patient on the airplane as she traveled back from the United States via London had tested positive.

“As a result of this we are going to implement the following measures: Only Kenyan citizens and foreigners with valid resident permits will be allowed to come into the country provided they proceed on self-quarantine or in a government quarantine facility,” President Uhuru Kenyatta said at a news conference late Sunday.

All day primary and secondary schools will be closed from Monday, while learners in boarding schools are expected home on Wednesday. Universities must also close by Friday.

The president announced that entry to the country will be blocked to all except citizens and residents and shutting schools as the number of confirmed cases rose to three.

Kenyatta said this would come into effect in the next 48 hours and would remain in place for 14 days.

Every foreigner who has entered the country in the past 14 days has been ordered to self-quarantine. 

All companies have been urged to allow employees to work from home.

Kenyatta also said citizens should avoid congregating in places of worship and shopping malls.

“I want to assure you that my administration is at the forefront of managing this pandemic,” he said.

After being relatively spared from the global pandemic which has killed over 4000 and infected over 159,000, Africa now has 25 countries reporting cases.

“Where possible, government offices, businesses, and companies are encouraged to allow employees to work from home, with the exception of employees working in critical or essential services,” the President said.

To avoid the risk of transmission through physical handling of money, the President said, “We encourage the use of cashless transactions such as mobile money and credit cards. We appeal to mobile operators and banks to take into consideration the situation and reduce the cost of transactions during this period.”

Nyakallo Tefu 

The University of Kwa-Zulu-Natal has been placed as the top university nationally for total published research outputs and total weighted actual research outputs for 2018.

This is for the latest audited assessment period by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET). 

Previously the university was placed 2^nd nationally with regard total published research outputs. 

In a statement to staff seen by Inside education, the office of the deputy vice chancellor Professor Nana Poku says they are extremely proud of the achievements and  would like to convey leadership’s appreciation and thanks to all staff, students, and stakeholders that have been instrumental in us achieving this position as the top university nationally in terms of research outputs.

It adds that UKZN produced the largest number of accredited journal outputs nationally, a total of 2 069.36 units in 2018. 

Nyakallo Tefu 

The Department of Basic Education has released guidelines for schools and childcare facilities on COVID-19 as infections and deaths continue to rise worldwide. 

COVID-19, declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization this week, has already claimed 17 confirmed infections in South Africa. 

School administrators can take steps to help stop or slow the spread of respiratory infectious diseases, including COVID-19:

–      Make sure that everyone in the school has up to date information on how to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (link to NICD, www.nicd.ac.za, guidance on hand washing, etc)

–      Monitor and plan for absenteeism

–      Review attendance and sick leave policies. Encourage learners and staff to stay home when sick. Use flexibility, when possible, to allow staff to stay home to care for sick family members.

–      Discourage the use of perfect attendance awards and incentives as these may encourage people to come to school sick.

–      Establish procedures to follow when learners and staff become sick at school or arrive at school sick, as they should be sent home as soon as possible.

–      Keep sick learners and staff separate from well learners and staff until they can leave.

School administrators can also support their school community by sharing resources with staff, families and, age-appropriately, with learners.

Consider sharing the following fact sheets and information sources found on the NICD website www.nicd.ac.za and the DBE website www.education.gov.za such as the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on COVID-19.

Department of Basic Education Director-General Mathanzima Mweli said schools can play an important role in efforts to control the spread of Covid-19.

Nyakallo Tefu 

Wits University has issued four students with letters of suspension following violent protests on campus over historic debt and a lack of student accommodation.

Last week, students called for the university to assist more than 200 students who were in urgent need of accommodation.  

This resulted in the disruption of academic activities at the university. 

Wits University management issued a statement on Twitter saying the students have been charged for disrupting classes, violating the rights of members of the Wits community and for malicious damage to property.

The suspension hearings started on Wednesday for the four students.  “The university recognizes the right to peaceful protest and has not charged any individual for protesting peacefully,” Wits University said in a statement.

Nyakallo Tefu

The main examination venue at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Edgewood Campus in Pinetown was set alight by students on Wednesday night.

UKZN’s vice chancellor Nana Poku said Thursday the university was working with the security apparatus to root out lawlessness and corruption at the university. 

The facility has seen numerous demonstrations from the beginning of the year, which is estimated to have cost the university more than R31 million. 

The main cause of protests around universities this year is the issue of historical debt and lack of student accommodation. 

 Police spokesperson Thembeka Mbele confirmed the arson attack at the facility, saying a case of arson has been opened.

Nyakallo Tefu 

Sans Souci Girls’ High School teacher Clarissa Venter’s case has been postponed to 7 April 2020 after she briefly appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court in Cape Town, Western Cape. 

This comes after a video went viral of her violent altercation with a Grade 9 pupil, in which Venter can be seen slapping the pupil before grabbing her by the shirt.

Venter said the pupil swore at her and pushed her around. 

She appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court for the reinstatement of charges of assault against her. 

In August 2019, the charge against Venter was withdrawn after her lawyer argued that the case should be withdrawn as the disciplinary hearing against his client had been dealt with and that the pupil had decided to leave Sans Souci.

Nobhongo Gxolo

Scientists from the Hair and Skin Research (HSR) Laboratory at the University of Cape Town (UCT) have published a study in the South African Medical Journal. According to the paper, all commercially sold hair relaxers they tested, including those advertised for children, were found to be at pH levels that are corrosive to skin.

An estimated seven out of every 10 women of “black African ancestry” use hair relaxers.

Global and local occupational health and safety guidelines have determined a pH greater than 10.5 as an irritant, and one greater than 11.5 as corrosive to skin. All 121 tested relaxers (including 54% that were international brands) had a pH greater than 11.5.

The researchers purchased relaxers from various retailers in Cape Town. This locale was acknowledged as a limitation of the study. Still, the shops in the city – most of which are found around the country – offered a good cross-section of the available products.

Ntombenhle Sishi, a cosmetic formulations scientist and co-author on the paper, explained, “Every cosmetic product lists ingredients. We classified the relaxers according to the three chemical actives: sodium hydroxide, calcium hydroxide and lithium hydroxide. Of the 121 products, 76 fell under the sodium hydroxide category, 24 were calcium hydroxide and 21 were lithium hydroxide.”

Most consumers and hairdressers often mention that no-lye kits, with calcium hydroxide as the main active ingredient, and those produced for children, are safer than sodium-based relaxers.

“One such product is a relaxer with an activator that must be mixed into it. It was packaged with a conditioner, which is usually meant to protect the hair and scalp. We wanted to simulate real-life conditions according to the manufacturer’s instructions, yet we found that the maximum pH was 13.8 – almost 14. Worryingly, this was meant to be used on children,” said Sishi.

“The skin of a child is not yet fully developed, and so should not be exposed to such a high pH. Not that adult skin should be either.”

The researchers found that six of the 76, four of the 24 and eight of the 21 relaxers were targeted at children. Sishi referenced a study that Professor Nonhlanhla Khumalo, senior author and head of the Division of Dermatology in the Department of Medicine, ran in 2007. Here she found that four out of five school children relaxed their hair.

Sishi explained: “Hair loss doesn’t happen overnight; it builds over time. The reality is that 8.6% of children entering the school system in Grade 1 show signs of hair alopecia. By the time they get to matric, that number has almost tripled – at 21.7%. Relaxing hair over time can leave the hair follicles completely damaged because the compounds used cause inflammation of the scalp. Continuous use of relaxers exacerbates this damage.”

A brief history lesson

Garret Morgan, a descendant of slaves who received little education but had an incredible talent for innovation, lived in Cincinnati. He was 32 when he stumbled on the hair-straightening prototype that would result in a patent. Morgan had a tailor shop in 1909 and, wanting to reduce friction in his sewing machines, he tried a concoction that contained sodium hydroxide. He wiped his hands on a furry cloth and after noticing a change in texture tried the product on a neighbour’s dog – Airedales have notably curly fur. Applying the cream resulted in the dog’s fur straightening, prompting Morgan to try it out on his own hair. It worked and he later founded the G.A. Morgan Hair Refining Company.

“The first relaxer patent was issued in 1913. It’s been more than 100 years since and we are still using sodium hydroxide and similar molecules,” Sishi said.

She also noted that women have been relaxing hair for a long time, regardless of warnings. Dermatologists like Khumalo have been publishing various studies that show a strong link between relaxers and hair damage, breakage and various types of alopecia. The HSR Lab was started by Khumalo partly to train scientists to produce safe cosmetics – through the first graduate Advanced Diploma in Cosmetic Formulation Science in Africa. The lab also aims to offer the country a facility for testing illegal and toxic ingredients in cosmetics – and so to protect the public from harm.

Healthier alternatives

Sishi said the responsibility should lie with the hair industry, the manufacturers and formulators like herself to “think out of the box and create safer alternatives for the people who want to straighten their hair”.

The hair industry narrative focuses on marketing relaxers as more cost-effective than alternative products. The narrative speaks to making kinky, curly or coiled hair more manageable. But hair care alternatives, including the importance of moisture in making hair more manageable, exist.

“Relaxers should not be an option; they are toxic and don’t belong on anyone’s skin.”

The natural hair movement has evolved to include vloggers, bloggers and influencers seeking to educate and share tips encouraging healthy hair management. Support groups and communities for like-minded people exist online on social media pages. Documentaries, like comedian Chris Rock’s Good Hair, which look at politics and culture as factors driving the industry’s economy, have received critical acclaim. Celebrities like Tracee Ellis Ross and Taraji P Henson – icons in the film industry – have developed their own hair care ranges. The rhetoric remains the same: relaxers aren’t the only option.

“Relaxers should not be an option; they are toxic and don’t belong on anyone’s skin,” said Sishi.

The South Africa Hair Care Market – Growth, Trends and Forecast (2020─2025) report put the local hair care market revenue at US$116.46 million in 2018. This translates to R1.7 billion.

“Sodium hydroxide is such a cheap chemical; it gives manufacturers a huge profit margin. You can’t make money while causing damage,” she added.

Her position, as a leading woman in science based at the top university on the continent, allows her to take the industry in her hands and supply it with “cosmetic scientists who’ve been trained with an overarching message of safety. You can’t be damaging and beautifying – it’s an oxymoron. The cosmetic scientists are encouraged to go out there and not do harm.”

A call to stop relaxing

The prevalence of traction alopecia (hair loss caused by tightly pulled hairstyles) in African natural hair sits at 21%. Plaiting increases that number to 33%. Relaxing moves the needle by a further 2%. Introducing weaves to already relaxed hair increases that to 48%. Effectively, one in two women risk developing traction alopecia when they braid or weave relaxed hair. Although Sishi conceded that many people want to straighten their hair, she said that they should “stop using relaxers”.

Sishi added, “I believe scientists, based on their unique vantage point, have a duty to improve the public’s quality of life and publicise these types of results so that people can make informed choices about what they put on their children’s and their own skins – especially when it comes to the products that they use daily.”

She said it’s pointless to do science just for the sake of it – “science must be done to impact the community”. 

“As an African woman scientist I am sitting at a vantage point where I can research and inform.”

On Sunday, 8 March, International Women’s Day commemorated working women – the team behind this paper embodies this. The responsibility of those who hold knowledge is to inform.

“As an African woman scientist I am sitting at a vantage point where I can research and inform … and use science to the benefit of those who do not have this positioning. We address issues no one is attending to. And in this case, doing so has the potential to encourage manufacturers to think out of the box – this is the second aim.”

Sishi mentioned that the third function of the research was to address their concern about the chemicals being allowed into the market by the current regulations.

“Can the status of relaxers be reviewed – and so moved from being allowed with restrictions to being banned completely?”

Fortunately, more people are opting for the natural route. This encourages an increase in the availability of alternative options as more products are being tested and marketed.

“Before relaxers there were African hair care options. Zozibini [Tunzi], Miss Universe, is an example of someone who is redefining beauty standards and proving that you can be yourself, be authentic, and be appreciated and accepted with your natural hair.”