Following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s address to the nation on Sunday, 24 May 2020, news points to schools and parts of the South African economy gearing up to open doors on 1 June 2020.
Further coverage spoke to the announcement of the reopening of synagogues, churches, mosques and other places of worship with limitations of up to 50 people at a time.
There is renewed optimism in some sectors with businesses showing an eagerness to open for trade and their employees returning to work after over two months in lockdown. Media coverage also talks to concerns by the public around the spread of COVID-19 during level 3 of lockdown when more people are out and about. Some of the concerns include the fact that South Africa will be heading into winter which may lead to increased cases of the novel coronavirus alongside the flu.
Teachers’ unions have also spoken up on behalf of their members citing a lack of preparedness in some schools and a general lack of good sanitation in other areas. Both the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) and the Educators’ Union of South Africa (Eusa) have questioned school readiness for their members and learners to return to classrooms on 1 June 2020.
This week’s sample items of 5 133 media items collected from online, print and broadcast sources from 20 to 26 May 2020 show increased mentions of the president and schools. Radio and online media outlets are still in the lead with the number of media items that were collected and analysed during this period. Unlike last week, where magazines made no showing, we are seeing a small number of items.
Brand Intelligence® firm Ornico has committed its resources to assist the communication industry and will be working closely with the Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa (PRISA) and other industry role players to help understand reportage around the pandemic. This will help professional communicators to improve critical messaging and to direct it to relevant audiences.
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