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25 June - 2 July 2020

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Inner City Gazette

Wits unveils corona

virus vaccine trial

The participants will be given an e-diary to record any symptoms experienced for seven days after receiving the vaccine, and they will also record if they feel unwell for the following three weeks.

Wits University Vaccinology Professor Shabir Madhi Pic: Waldo Swiegers

Braamfontein - Wits University has announced South Africa’s first Covid-19 vaccine trial to find medication that will prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection, the virus that causes Covid-19. In a virtual briefing on Tuesday Wits Professor of Vaccinology and Director of the South Africa Medical Research Council Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, Shabir Madhi, said this is a landmark moment for South Africa and Africa at this stage of Covid-19. “As we enter winter and pressure increases on public hospitals, we need a vaccine to prevent Covid-19 infection. We began screening participants for the South African Oxford 1 Covid-19 vaccine trial last week, and the first participants will be vaccinated this week,” Madhi said. He explained that participants will be set up in three groups. “Group One has 50 HIV negative people; Group Two comprises 1 900 HIV negative participants; and Group Three with 50 people living with HIV. The 1

950 participants, aged between 18 to 65, and who are HIV negative, must not have tested positive for Covid-19. They also should not be pregnant or breastfeeding, or previously participated in a trial involving an adenoviral vaccine, or received any other corona virus vaccine,” he said. The 50 people living with HIV are included to examine safety and see how they respond to the vaccine. Participants will need to provide written, informed consent to participate in the trial, and will remain on the trial for about a year. Madhi added that the trial will cost R150 million, and will be carried out in metropolitan areas where the risk of SARS-CoV2 infection is high, and Covid-19 hotspots. “Our best-case scenario is that we have an answer on the outcomes for this trial vaccine by the end of the year,” he added. Half of the participants will receive the ChAdOx1 COVID-19 (ChAdOx1Cov19) vaccine and the other half will receive a placebo (normal saline). The

participants will be given an e-diary to record any symptoms experienced for seven days after receiving the vaccine, and they will also record if they feel unwell for the following three weeks. The participants will then go through a process of follow-ups where researchers will check participants’ observations, review the completed e-diaries, and take blood samples, to be used to assess the immune response to the vaccine. Participants who develop symptoms of the virus during the study can contact a member of the clinical team, and participants who feel unwell will be assisted in finding hospital care. Department of Health director-general Dr Sandile Buthelezi said: “There would be no better time than today to launch this vaccine trial, as the country has reached a landmark of over 100 000 infections; and have breached a high level of deaths in the country. We are mainly depending on non-pharmaceutical interventions, if there is a way we can fast-track our road to getting the vaccine; that would be the solution.”

Inner-city Gazette

News

Benefits

of online higher education in

Dr Hendrik Botha and Dr Janet Viljoen While many institutions grapple with a sudden and dramatic shift to online learning, provision of technology mediated learning is in our DNA. Boston City Campus & Business College has decades of experience in this modality of provision. “That Covid-19 will have a transformative impact on the way learning happens within the universities seems indisputable. The most dramatic evidence of this is the shift to online learning” (Habib and Valodia, 2020). While the emergency remote teaching (Hodges et al., 2020) deployed during the first half of 2020 was restructured in haste, and lacked the proper pedagogical construction for online learning (Habib and Valodia, 2020), Boston has carefully curated its teaching and learning materials to be durable, reliable, cutting-edge and most importantly constructively-aligned for a seamless and coherent student learning experience. The lockdown necessitated by COVID-19 across the world is the perfect backdrop against which to review our experience in online education and the advantages thereof. In our experience, online and distance learning (ODL) is flexible, cost-effective and enables access even to those in full-time employment. Learning can take place at any time and in any place and is not constrained by factors such as lecture-room capacity. Online and distance learning opportunities remove the binary choices: it is no longer study or work, study or travel, upskill or have a family: it is study AND work, travel, and have a family. Moreover, the world is no longer preoccupied with what type of learning got you your qualification: what remains important is the reputation of the institution and of its graduates. One such measure is evidenced in local and voluntary international accreditation. There is no more a social hierarchy between contact learning (face-to-face) and online and distance learning experiences. Acknowledging the context of the 21st century and the fourth industrial revolution, online learning by its very nature supports and develops personal independence, and prepares the candidate for the modern workplace – one which is characterised by remote work-from-home arrangements and a high degree of personal autonomy. Boston leverages the available technology to the student’s benefit, incorporating

Dr Hendrik Botha AI to monitor participation, send motivational communications, and trigger alerts when participation is low which prompts a call to the student from a member of faculty or a personal student advisor. Online does not mean alone! Boston offers a wide range of Higher Certificate and Diploma qualifications which cater to niche specialisations and are occupationally focused. Access to these qualifications is not restricted by the need for a Bachelor’s Pass in the Matric examinations, and completion of one of these qualifications may facilitate transition into a Bachelor’s Degree upon successful completion. Your dream of higher education is not over because you did not achieve a Bachelors’ Pass: there are many alternative higher education qualifications available to you, all recognised on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). At the other end of spectrum, you may elect one of our Bachelor’s degrees in Commerce, Accounting or Social Science, or perhaps you may wish to advance your business acumen through our unique Postgraduate Diploma in Management. Online provision of learning comes in many different forms and with many variants of support available to the student. Boston likes to take a middle road ap-

2020

proach: the material is online for you to access 24/7 at your convenience, and subject experts are available for consultation via online communication channels. We go a step further than this. Boston provides the prescribed courseware (textbooks) free of charge as part of the fee structure. This means that when Eskom load sheds, or when you run out of data, you can continue your learning journey. We believe that we cannot rely exclusively on technology, and that the deployment of our LMS works best in conjunction with the “good old hardcopy textbook”. Some may argue that online learning does not offer the student the same personal development opportunities, social exposure, and peer engagement that other, more traditional (face-to-face) means of learning might. We think the key is in the word “personal” development and we argue that the enthusiastic student who is willing and able to learn will derive the same developmental benefits from the online interaction as from a face-to-face connection. After all, we are all digital natives in some sense in 2020. Never satisfied with “good enough” Boston goes a step further: we provide Support Centres around the country where students can meet to collaborate, learn together, use technological facilities, or seek assistance from a Student Advisor. Attendance at a Support Centre is voluntary, self-directed and a matter of choice: this means you can travel to the centre during off-peak times when travel is cheaper, choose your days according to what suits your schedule, or indeed choose not to make use of the facilities in person in favour of online communication with faculty or advisors. The choice is yours – entirely yours. “Covid-19 highlights the need to reimagine the global institutional architecture of the higher education system” (Habib and Valodia, 2020). Higher education is forcibly being pushed into new territory, unknown challenges lie ahead, and admittedly, no person has gone before us in this respect. The architecture of online education, such as we deploy at Boston, is established and robust. It has stood the test of time and has been through iterations of change and improvement in response to student needs. Where we may once have sat on the fringe of higher education provision, online provision of education now finds itself firmly central, swiftly approaching mainstream. Trust the online provider with years of experience to guide your learning journey.

25 June - 2 July 2020

Cybercrooks unleash web skimming Tech Reporter

esearchers have uncovered a new technique for stealing users’ payment information on online shopping websites, a type of attack known as web skimming. By registering for Google Analytics accounts and injecting these accounts’ tracking code into the websites’ source code, attackers can collect users’ credit card details. About 24 online stores worldwide have Senior malware analyst Victoria Vlasova been compromised this way. Web skimming is a practice used the webpage’s source code, allowing by attackers to steal credit card details them to collect data about visitors and from payment pages of online stores, have it sent directly to their Google whereby they inject pieces of code Analytics accounts. Because the data into the source code of the website. isn’t being directed to an unknown This malicious code then collects third-party resource, it’s difficult for the data inputted by visitors to the administrators to realise the site has site, such as payment account logins been compromised. For those examor credit card numbers, and sends the ining the source code, it just appears data to the address specified by attack- as if the page is connected with an ofers in the malicious code. ficial Google Analytics account, comOften, to conceal the fact that the mon practice for online stores. webpage has been compromised, atTo make it even harder to spot, the tackers register domains with names attackers also employed a common that resemble popular web analytics anti-debugging technique. If a site services, such as Google Analytics. administrator reviews the webpage When they inject the malicious code, source code using Developer mode, it’s harder for the site administrator the malicious code is not executed. to know that the site has been comAbout 24 websites were compropromised. For example, a site named mised this way, which included stores “googlc-analytics.com” is easy to in Europe, North and South America. mistake as a legitimate domain. Senior malware analyst at Kaspersky Kaspersky researchers have discov- Victoria Vlasova says this new techered a new technique for conducting nique is particularly effective. web skimming attacks. Rather than “Google Analytics is one of the most redirecting the data to third-party popular web services. A majority of sources, they redirected it to official developers and users trust it, it’s often Google Analytics accounts. Once the given permission to collect user data attackers registered their accounts on by site administrators. That makes Google Analytics, all they had to do malicious injects with Google Analytwas configure the accounts’ tracking ics accounts inconspicuous. Adminisparameters to receive a tracking ID. trators should not assume that because They then injected the malicious the third-party resource is legitimate, code along with the tracking ID into its presence is OK,” Vlasova says.

25 June - 2 July 2020

Inner-city Gazette

Partnership launches online learning platform Kathy Gibson

icrosoft South Africa and Vodacom have launched an online learning platform, which they believe is a first for the industry. Vodacom Business CEO William Mzimba explains that the platform will be made available to all public and private schools, TVET colleges and universities. “This provides connectivity and applications in a single platform that will enable digital learning via virtual classrooms,” he says. Virtual classrooms are enabled through Office 365, allowing students and teachers to collaborate via video conferencing, live streaming and other tools. Students are also able to submit assignments via the platform, and teachers can return marked assignments. All students and institutions will have access to the platform, which is accessible via PC, mobile phone and tablet devices. Mzimba and Lillian Barnard, MD of Microsoft SA, stress that the announcement addresses the short-term needs created by the Covid-19 pandemic, but also aims to transform education in the long-term. Mzimba says education needs to be a combination of online and on-campus learning. “We are demonstrating that, as a country, we can usher in those two modes.”

Vodacom Business chief officer William Mzimba

Barnard says the traditional learning model has to change, with children given access to more personalised learning. She points out that technology skills are becoming more important for job seekers across the board. “In South Africa, there is a need for deeper technology and digital skills; 64% of companies surveyed say they see an increase in digital skills in the next few years. But they say they struggle to find the right digital skills to advance their business objectives.” Barnard adds that Microsoft will give Vodacom partners the resources they need to train teachers in acquiring necessary skills.

News

Inner-city Gazette

News

There is ‘enough of the drug to treat Covid-19 patients’

Aspen executive Stavros Nicolaous

Johannesburg - Pharmaceutical giant Aspen says there will be enough supplies of the Dexamethasone drug which is used to treat severely ill Covid-19 patients. An Oxford University’s recovery trial recently found that the anti-inflammatory medicine causes a 35 % reduction in the deaths of critically ill patients. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize says there are currently around 300 000 units of the product available in

the country, and South African doctors are able to offer the treatment to those who need it. Aspen Pharmacare Group’s executive Stavros Nicolaous says the drug has a much targeted therapeutic range. “It does have generic forms, so there are other suppliers in the country. We are confident that with Aspen and other suppliers, we can keep a stable and constant supply in the country,” Nicolaous adds.

Police officers at their desk during the temporary relocation

Police station re-opens after Covid-19 closure Johannesburg - The Hillbrow police station has re-opened after it was temporarily closed for nearly a week, following a member testing positive for the corona virus last week, according

to spokesperson Captain Musa Shihambe. He says following the temporary closure of the station, operations moved to Umthombo Wempilo proj-

ect premises at the Christ Church near the Twist and Caroline streets intersection in Hillbrow. Umthombo Wempilo is an outreach project that supports vulnerable and abused women within the Hillbrow community. “The Hillbrow SAPS station closed because one member tested positive for the virus. We are thankful to have a church and people like Pastor Godfrey, the minister in charge. Decontamination of the police station has been completed and we are back to our normal routine. May God be with us and our families as we strive to bring peace and prosperity in the community we serve,” he said.

25 June - 2 July 2020

Popular CBD salon turns to

crowd funding to survive ‘My hope is to eliminate the numbers of youth unemployment and this will definitely do just that. The funding will be used for a new space, shop fittings, in-salon stock to use and salon equipment’ Johannesburg - A popular Johannesburg CBD hair salon, Indalo Nubian Naturals, has turned to crowd funding to raise funds to keep it open, after it had to close due to the effects of the Covid-19 lockdown. Indalo, which is situated in Commissioner Street in the Joburg CBD, also caters for men and children with natural African hair. It announced the closure of its Joburg branch last week, leaving 29 stylists without a job. The brand, which is owned by Smangele Sibisi, has another branch in Pretoria. Sibisi said what was meant to be just three weeks turned into three months, and rent costs kept piling up with no income, which left the Joburg branch with massive debt and employees destitute. “A month of not receiving your income can be understood, but two to three months is really a disaster. Our contract with our accountant was suspended due to non-payment, and eviction of stylists from their accommodation followed. I was also evicted from where I stayed,” Sibisi said.

Indalo owner Smangele Sibisi

Sibisi has turned to crowd funding through the BackaBuddy campaign to raise R200 000 to keep the business open. “This will help rebuild our salon, which will mean no one will be left without a job. Our employees will have a home again, and this will definitely help us gain a home for our clients who used to visit our Johannesburg branch. My hope is to eliminate the numbers of youth unemployment and this will definitely do just that. The funding will be used for a new space, shop fittings, in-salon stock to use and salon equipment,” Sibisi said. By Monday, 22 June, the campaign had raised over R15 000 of its targeted amount for funding.

Online shopping fraud increases Johannesburg - Restrictions in physical shopping and awareness on personal safety since the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdown have increased online shopping; and fraudsters have also increased their attempts to defraud consumers through Card Not Present shopping activity. FNB head of card fraud Senzo Nsibande says in the latest modus operandi criminals contact consumers to deceive them into compromising their card details and one-time PIN (OTP). “Criminals call pretending to be from your bank, informing you that fraud has been detected on your account; while offering help to reverse the transactions. They then ask you to read out the One Time PIN that you have just received, which enables them to buy goods using your card details

online. Most people unknowingly read out their OTP and, as a result, fall victim to fraud. An OTP is a dynamic number generated by your bank to you to authenticate transactions when shopping online,” Nsibande says. He adds that online shopping continues to rise and with the Covid-19 pandemic the trend is likely to continue. “While we continue to encourage the use thereof, we advise consumers to familiarise themselves with the new ways the criminals are using to defraud unsuspecting customers. More importantly, we urge all consumers to always protect their personal information. For our customers, we remind them that FNB will never request their private information such as a OTP or their card PIN for any reason,” Nsibande adds.

25 June - 2 July 2020

Inner-city Gazette

News

UN secretary to deliver Madiba lecture Johannesburg - The Nelson Mandela Foundation has announced that UN secretary-general António Guterres will deliver the 18th Nelson Mandela annual lecture on 18 July this year. This year’s lecture will be the first to be hosted virtually, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In a statement the foundation said the theme for the lecture, Tackling the Inequality Pandemic: A new

Social Contract for a New Era, focuses on current inequalities that have come under sharp focus during the Covid-19 pandemic. “It will look ahead to what we must do to address the world’s fragilities and build a fair globalisation. The annual lecture invites prominent people to drive debate on significant social issues.” Previous speakers include Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, former

Killer robbers get life jail Johannesburg - On Tuesday two men were sentenced to life in prison for murdering a man at a plot in Lanseria in May 2018. They were also sentenced to 20 years jail for unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition, and 15 years for robbery with aggravating circumstances; and the sentences will run concurrently. According to the prosecution, the men, Bongani Thabani Ndlovu, 35, and Jabulani Meli Dlamini, 41, followed Ralph Ockert’s car after he withdrew some money at the Fourways Mall. National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane said on arrival at his residence, while waiting for

the gate to open, Ockert was accosted by Ndlovu and Dlamini. “They knocked on the driver’s window; then they fired shots, fatally wounding Ockert. They then took cash and some of his belongings, including his bank card. After that they brazenly continued to make purchases using his bank card,”she said. Later police Warrant Officer Abie Montwedi tracked Ndlovu and Dlamini to Marshalltown in the Joburg CBD. The men fled, but were later arrested. Prosecutor Faghre Mohammed said it was a “well-orchestrated crime” and therefore there was no reason to deviate from the prescribed life sentence for the men.

US president Barack Obama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and former president Thabo Mbeki. Guterres, who took office in January 2017, is the ninth UN secretarygeneral. “Whether working as a volunteer in the poor neighbourhoods of Lisbon, or representing his constituency in the Portuguese parliament, and from his years as Prime Minister to his service as UN High Com-

missioner for Refugees, Guterres has sought to ease suffering, protect the vulnerable and ensure human rights for all. These priorities remain at the core of his efforts as UN secretary-general,” the foundation said. The annual Nelson Mandela lecture will be streamed live from the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s Johannesburg headquarters and the UN in New York, United States.

UN secretary-general António Guterres

Inner-city Gazette

25 June - 2 July 2020

Inner-city Gazette

Virtual photo expo for National Arts Festival

Invitation to join arts exploration

Reclamations revisit the longest mentorship programme in the history of African photography that supports young photographers in realising visions that reflect aspirations of their communities. Lusanda Zokufa - Kathilu

he Market Photo Workshop has announced the upcoming opening of Reclamations, a virtual exhibition to be hosted on Photoform Africa and the National Arts Festival online showcase. The exhibition, a Tierney Fellowship Retrospective at the Market Photo Workshop, will be presented at the National Arts Festival Live from 25 June to 8 July 2020 on www.photoformafrica.com. Reclamations revisit the longest running mentorship programme in the history of African photography that supports young photographers in realising visions that reflect the aspirations and disquiet of their communities. Photographers Tracey Edser, Simangele Kalisa, the late Thabiso Sekgala, Mack Magagane, Tshepiso Mazibuko, Lebohang Kganye, Sipho Gongxeka, Matthew Kay, Tsepo Gumbi, Celimpilo Mazibuko, Tshepiso Mabula ka Ndongeni, together with the Tierney Bamako Award Recipient, Moussa John Kalapo, represent a cross-section of photographic concern that remains urgent in our transitioning societies.

Photographer Lebohang Kganye

Awarded at the Market Photo Workshop, these fellows refocus attention on gender, race, migration, the di-

The Arts

vide between urban and rural, land restitution, spirituality, national and familial memory and reclaims them from the histories of their making. The Market Photo Workshop, in partnership with the Tierney Family Foundation, creates opportunities for photographers to cultivate the development of photography as a medium. The Tierney Fellowship provides successful applicants with financial support to research and produce photographic work, in consultation with a mentor, over a year. The programme started in 2008; partner institutions include the Market Photo Workshop, Wits School of Arts and the Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town. Through Photoform Africa, alumni and current students will have profiles set up for their photography practice and submit photo stories for publishing on this site, to build a collective archive of Market Photo Workshop alumni work. Visit www.photoformafrica.com

Akhona Jolingana

collaboration between ASSITEJ South Africa and Drama for Life (DFL) will soon host a ‘conference and festival’ to explore the current Arts landscape in the time of Covid-19, supported by the National Lotteries Commission of SA and the City of Johannesburg. In response to the pandemic, DFL and ASSITEJ South Africa invite participants to an intergenerational exploration with students, children, artists, facilitators, young academics and DFL alumni and staff, where everyone is invited to share, between 20 and 24 August 2020. The Conference and Festival investigates the fundamental questions of Masidlale: Exploring Connection; How do we play, explore and co-create now; How can the Arts respond to disconnection; How do we ‘come together’ to create during this time; How can theatre be reimagined as a place for healing and connection; Who are our collaborators and how do we journey together? The event will include Zoom conversations, online creative experiments, panel conversations, online/ virtual performances, and discussions, and play readings from the AS-

uotable

uotes

By Prophet Philip Banda

Writer Katlego Kolanyane-Kesupile

SITEJ SA In the Works, platform. This year’s crop of 10 writers was selected from over 40 applicants from all over South Africa, Botswana and Kenya. The writers are Jade Beeby, Katlego Kolanyane-Kesupile, Lereko Mfono, Maimouna Jallow, Mathabo Tlali, Modisana Mabale, Sanelisiwe Yekani, Siphumeze Khundayi, Uvile Ximba and Zinhle Mbokane. It will also host French playwright and dramaturge Karin Serres, and Rives Collins, US playwright. The deadline for submissions is 20 July 2020. Visit www.dramaforlife.co.za.

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Banyana coach urges PSL giants to launch women’s soccer teams ‘They already have many women supporters; so investing in women’s football will increase their fan base’ Sports Reporter

anyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis has challenged PSL giants Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates to launch women’s teams. The two soccer giants are currently the only PSL top clubs without a women’s team. Both are based in Soweto where the Safa Women’s National League (SWNL) was launched last year. Ellis says the Soweto giants can help grow the women’s game if they include women’s teams. “It is vital for Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates to form women’s teams. If they come on

board sponsors will also come on board. The only big team in England that didn’t have a women’s team was Manchester United, but now has a team. It was the same with Real Madrid. The Spanish leagues have grown and sponsorship has improved. I don’t want to use the word, but PSL clubs should be forced to have women’s teams, and not just have the team for the sake of having it, but give them support and necessary development similar to what they do with their male counterparts.” Ellis added that such a move would also see a huge shift in the mind-set of people, and

sponsors would come on board. “Chiefs marketing director Jessica Motaung has been asked many times about forming a women’s team. I don’t know what the stumbling block is. I ask them once again to take women’s football to another level. Maybe they are still looking at the cost. If you see what they spend on the men’s team, the cost will be like a drop in the ocean. They already have many women supporters; so investing in women’s football will increase their fan base. If they come on board, it will change the landscape of women’s football in the country,” Ellis said.

Banyana coach Desiree Ellis