Boots on the ground

Survivors recount their farm attack experiences

When she hears of a farmer and their family brutally attacked, tortured or murdered, emerging Bloemfontein farmer Mimmie Jakobs has flashbacks to the moment three men burst into her home. Stabbed multiple times, beaten to a pulp, her jaw broken, face fractured and left for dead, Jakobs, who farms lucerne…

1 Oct 2020 23 min

The uncollected dead of Covid-19

A new directive from the health department that anyone who dies of natural causes outside a hospital be tested for Covid-19 before a death certificate is issued has thrown the funeral industry into confusion. The instruction, issued on Wednesday by health director-general Sandile Buthelezi, has sparked anger and confusion among…

17 Aug 2020 21 min

The collateral death toll of Covid-19

According to the official figures released on Sunday night, 10,408 people have died in SA as a result of the coronavirus.   While more than over 10 000 deaths is already a significant number, funeral parlours have reported a spike in the funerals they are being required to cater for…

10 Aug 2020 22 min

Prospective transplant patients face a Catch-22 decision due to Covid-19

It’s month four of SA’s national lockdown, and while most of us have begun to settle into the new normal, the danger Covid-19 presents for our country has not yet dissipated. SA is now one of only five countries to have recorded over a half million confirmed Covid-19 cases. While…

2 Aug 2020 19 min

Trouble brews over the latest alcohol sales ban

President Cyril Ramaphosa banned the sale and distribution of alcohol for the second time on July 12, citing “clear evidence”, that the use of alcohol places undue pressure on medical facilities. However, the president's evidence is still hotly contested in the Ministerial Advisory Committee. This episode of Boots on the…

27 Jul 2020 27 min

The fight to prepare: Will SA's hospitals be ready for the worst of Covid-19?

It's week 14 of South Africa’s national lockdown, and it is crystal clear that preparations of the most morbid sort are underway. From the development of field hospitals to the creations of added burial capacity, there is a mad dash underway in SA's health sector. The questions the country face…

12 Jul 2020 27 min

Lockdown day 100 | Complacency kills

Saturday the 4th of July, marks SA’s 100th day in lockdown. The country has progressed from a very daunting lockdown level 5 to what people are now calling lockdown level 3 lite. With the easing of lockdown restrictions many South Africans seem to have lost their fear of Covid-19, with…

4 Jul 2020 21 min

Witnesses relive the day Collins Khosa died

In this episode of Boots on the ground: behind SA’s national lockdown, we speak to the witnesses and victims who were present when Collins Khosa died. 40-year-old Collins Khosa died on April 10 after he was allegedly assaulted by soldiers.His life partner, Nomsa Montsa, alleged in an affidavit that Khosa…

20 Jun 2020 28 min

Is cigarette ban turning citizens into criminals?

In this episode of Boots on the ground: behind SA's national lockdown, we chat to restaurateurs turned cigarette smugglers. In light of the North Gauteng High Court ruling that the lockdown regulations are "unconstitutional and invalid", we ask if certain lockdown regulations are criminalising our society.

8 Jun 2020 26 min

Level 3: What decision will you make for your child?

With lockdown level 3 looming, SA parents need to make some hard decisions around how best to begin exposing their children to Covid-19. In this episode of Boots on the ground, we consider some of the difficult choices parents have had to face since lockdown began and what decisions still…

31 May 2020 21 min

If not science, then what is lockdown based on?

In this episode of 'Boots on the ground': behind SA's national lockdown we look at the toll lockdown is having on the South African economy and consider Prof Glenda Gray's accusation that government’s risk-adjusted Covid-19 strategy is “unscientific”.

24 May 2020 16 min

Level 4: Not as free as we had hoped

SA has been in lockdown for over 50 days and one thing is clear: people want their basic freedoms back. So while the announcement of lockdown level 4 was initially met by cheers, it has also unintentionally made the national lockdown a lot harder to govern. Fluctuating laws and regulations…

17 May 2020 28 min

Survivor's guilt

In this short podcast series, we follow Sunday Times reporter Alex Patrick and senior reporter Graeme Hosken, as they track, record and reflect on the real events and people that make up SA’s biggest Covid-19 news stories.

2 May 2020 30 min

Holding on to our humanity

In today’s episode of 'Boots on the ground: behind SA’s lockdown', we place under the  microscope the plight of our neighbours both locally and across our borders, and consider what happens to our humanity when we ignore the suffering of those around us.

25 Apr 2020 25 min

The fight for survival

It’s the end of week 3 of SA’s national lockdown and Friday would have marked our first day out of lockdown, had President Cyril Ramaphosa not announced a two-week extension. In a way it is the end of the beginning, but by no means the beginning of the end. The…

18 Apr 2020 24 min

Inside SA's essential services

On today's episode of Boots on the Ground: behind SA’s national lockdown: Graeme goes on a ride-along with SA's late night lockdown enforcers, Alex has a Covid scare and SA’s lockdown gets extended by another 2 weeks! This immersive podcast follows Sunday Times reporter Alex Patrick and senior reporter Graeme…

10 Apr 2020 25 min

The fight for control

For South Africans in densely populated urban areas, it is next to impossible to socially isolate and this strain was felt as SA entered its first official week of lockdown. This immersive podcast follows Sunday Times reporter Alex Patrick and senior reporter Graeme Hosken, as they document the first week…

2 Apr 2020 27 min