Vaccine rollout: After the long, dark year of fear there is hope again

Monday, May 18th marked Day One of South Africa’s nationwide vaccine roll-out programme. Finally, Melanie writes, there is hope and a light at the end of the tunnel.

Spineless, maskless MPs need to be punished

Melanie Verwoerd questions why it was the responsibility of a journalist to tell MP's to wear masks when the law is quite clear.

Political commentaryMelanie Verwoerd11 March 2021#KarimaBrown, #masks, #eNCA, #racism, #COVID-19, #PieterGroenewaldComment

Alcohol is on sale again, but it doesn't mean the lesson has been learnt

Unless people change their selfish and reckless behavior, we will have wave after wave, with more people getting sick, more job losses, more alcohol bans, and more people dying.

Social commentary, PersonalMelanie Verwoerd10 February 2021#alcoholban, #secondwave, #Coronavirus, #COVID-19Comment

Jackson Mthembu's death: The day our nation's soul was torn away

Melanie Verwoerd writes that there is more to her grief following the death of Jackson Mthembu this week.

Political commentary, PersonalMelanie Verwoerd27 January 2021#JacksonMthembu, #restinpeace, #restinpower, #SASSA, #COVID-19Comment

Should the local elections be postponed?

Should local elections be postponed because of the pandemic? If so, should they be postponed to coincide with the National and Provincial elections?

Why the vaccine patents should be released immediately

Let us remember the millions of babies who died unnecessarily from HIV, and let us now not allow millions of people in the developing world to die from COVID-19.

Social Justice, Political commentaryMelanie Verwoerd13 January 2021#vaccine, #patent, #releasethepatent, #COVID-19, #savelivesComment

Why don't we have a vaccine yet?

So as a country we are again having to face what the majority of South Africans and people in the developing world know all too well: Access depends on money.