AFRICA OVERVIEW
2020: a year of endings, a year of beginnings SOLLY MOENG looks back on the successful execution of the first hybrid Africa Brand Summit.
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arrest harmless citizens taking lonely walks on beaches or jogging alone in deserted areas, with no risk of bringing harm to anyone. As organisers of the annual Africa Brand Summit, we remained calm as we watched the evolving situation quite closely, staying in regular contact with bodies such as SA Tourism, the South African Association for the Conference Industry, and the Tourism Business Council of South Africa in order to inform a decision to cancel, postpone or modify the planned 2020 event. It was supposed to be hosted in June as a traditional, full-on face-to-face summit in Cape Town. Cancellation and postponement to 2021 were right at the bottom of our list of considerations, and would only have been triggered if we were convinced that conditions for hosting the event in any form during 2020 would have been negative.
020 was one long emotional roller coaster of a year for many people. We moved from consternation when the coronavirus pandemic was first announced, to trepidation as casualty numbers grew and people close or known to us became affected – some of them subsequently dying from it – then hope when the curve flattened and casualty numbers began to stabilise and drop, followed by the progressive easing of lockdown restrictions. There was also a lot of anger at government for imposing a blanket lockdown, with some of its movement and trading restrictions not making any sense in the fight Solly against the spread of Moeng the virus. This anger was further fuelled by the conduct of some senior politicians, who behaved as if the restrictions were not meant for them, and by the overzealous drive by some members of the security forces who were too eager to themediaonline.co.za
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