In this episode we speak to Monique Mortlock, a friend and journalist at eNCA, about how South Africa has been handling the current COVID-19 pandemic. Monique explains how her life as a field journalist and essential worker has been affected, and how her team is finding new ways to report. She highlights the successes and failures by the South African government to support its people in this time and sheds light on the intricacies of the ban on cigarette and alcohol sales in the country.

This episode is brought to you by Bear Radio. Big thanks to RØDE for the sponsored equipment and to our friends and family for their enthusiasm to share their stories.

Our condolences go out to Monique as well as the family, friends and colleagues of eNCA camera man, Lungile Tom, who passed away on May 13 after testing positive for COVID-19. We would also like to thank ALL essential workers for the incredible work that they do on the front lines to keep us fed, healthy and informed.

Please share your own stories, both fun and not, to coronadiariespodcast@gmail.com and while you’re at it, a donation of any sort would be much appreciated, the link is PayPal.me/bearradio - all donors will receive a loving shoutout in the next episode.