The Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande, will release the outcome of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) second part of the public perception survey on the impact of the coronavirus on South Africans.
This follows the first survey conducted from Friday 27 March – Tuesday 31 March during which the Council looked at how South Africans feel about the survey, what they understand, know and how they are reacting to the COVID-19 Emergency.
The second wave of the survey which was conducted from Tuesday 7 April 2020 – Tuesday 14 April 2020 looked specifically at the lockdown as implemented from the 27th March to the 16th April.
The survey conducted on the social media platform Moya Messaging which was accessed data free looked at some of the following issues:
- What type of community the respondent lives,
- Access to services for drinking and sanitation,
- Knowledge about the coronavirus including preventive measures, primary concerns about the virus, does a lockdown help to prevent the spread of the virus,
- Perceptions about personal risk in relation to contracting the virus,
- Travel, movement and adherence to social distancing guideline,
- Access to food during the lockdown,
- Testing for COVID-19 and Coronavirus,
- The socio-economic impact of the lockdown on the respondent and his/her household,
- Whether the respondent was subjected to gender based violence during the lockdown,
- Activities undertaken by the respondent during the lockdown.
This second part of the survey included telephonic qualitative questions which provided deeper responses from respondents, particularly those with minimal internet access of out of coverage range. This is particularly important noting the digital divide in South Africa and the essential need to service communities most at risk.
The results of the survey will be released during a virtual media briefing taking place as follows:
Date: Sunday, 26 April 2020
Time: 14h00
Venue: The Minister will brief from Tshedimosetso House, GCIS Auditorium, 1035 Francis Baard Street, Hatfield, Pretoria.
Participation by media:
Journalists may call and ask questions using the following number 0800 142 446. SABC will provide pool feed as follows:
- Downlink Frequency 12649.5
- Symbol Rate: 2.7 M/Sym
- Hd 10801 25 H.264 4:2:0
- Rollof factor 5%
- DVB- S2 8psk
- Audio Channel 1 256kbs
Enquiries: Ishmael Mnisi 0660378859 or Ishmael.Mnisi@dst.gov.za (Higher Education Science & Innovation)
