These words, spoken by President Cyril Ramaphosa when he announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown starting at midnight on Thursday, 26 March 2020, and that each of us must “play our part” as the global COVID-19 pandemic deepens, is guiding the University with its own lockdown plans.

At a special meeting yesterday, Nelson Mandela University’s Senior Management deliberated on how to collectively promote staff and students’ wellness in these unprecedented times, and the importance of the University’s own contribution in the alleviation of the present challenges.

Given the uncertainty, but likely monumental impact of the virus in South Africa, which by 25 March 2020 had notched up 709 cases in just 19 days - scenario planning will be ongoing, in seeking the best solutions to continue the work of the University.

Wellness:

President Ramaphosa called upon us to “be courageous, to be patient, and above all to show compassion”. It is this posture that we, as the University is taking, with staff and student wellness being paramount, as the institution moves towards a near-total physical shutdown of its seven campuses in Port Elizabeth and George.

A smaller sub-committee is working on plans to offer a sustained service to the University’s staff and students, recognising the intensified need for emotional and psychological well-being in our personal, professional and academic lives, at such a time.

In the interim, however, the following applies:

• Occupational Health and Wellness will continue to serve staff with emotional support, along with contracted Wellness@Work colleagues. Their 24-hours toll-free number is 0800 205 333. 
• The University is exploring the possibility of having Contact Centre staff work remotely in this period
• For COVID-19 concerns, contact the 24-hour public toll-free numbers - 0800 029 999 or 0800 111 132 (remember not to physically go to your doctor but call them or the hotline for guidance).
• Staff should work in the spaces that support their wellbeing.

ICT Support:

A relevant committee is working hard to provide the necessary supporting equipment to enable staff to work from home, be it the provision of laptops or the setting up of supporting IT platforms, in the next 72 hours. Line Managers should contact Mkhosi Mahlathini on mkhosi.mahlathini@mandela.ac.za as soon as possible to make the necessary arrangements.  The ICT Service desk will remain operational.  In order to improve efficiency and quicker turnaround time, staff are urged to log all ICT related calls by making use of the Self-Help Portal as can be found on the Staff Portal on URL https://staffrequests.mandela.ac.za

In addition, efforts are underway to secure financial support for the provision of data to enable work to continue online, including preparatory efforts to enable online and other forms of learning and teaching to proceed when we do resume. (See comprehensive Learning and Teaching Memo for more details).

Critical Services:

A national lockdown means that very few people will be on campus or need to come to campus.

Only security and a few other critical services personnel will need to be on campus. These include those  who are responsible for essential maintenance, those who have to oversee laboratories and research experiments, etc. Line Managers will have to identify these staff categories so that the necessary information can be relayed to the national authorities charged with the monitoring and management of compliance with the nationwide lockdown.

Queries:

You are advised to please visit the University’s dedicated Coronavirus website should you have any queries. In the FAQs section you will find a space to ask questions. These questions will be directed to the relevant individuals, and then posted on the FAQs page in a generic way.

If your query is HR-related, then please log a case on the CRM portal.

Conclusion:

While none of us knows what lies ahead, we do know that we are called “to prioritise the lives and livelihoods of our people above all else and use all the measures that are within our power to protect them from the economic consequences of this pandemic”.

During the period of national lockdown, the University will continue to communicate as and when is necessary.

We wish you all the best at this challenging time.

Communication and Marketing