UJ Alumni Impumelelo Magazine edition 7

not only talking about stats, but we all have been directly or indirectly affected by the pandemic. I believe at this stage none of us can say we do not know someone who has passed on due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The someone may be a family member, a friend, a neighbour, or a colleague. Many of us have been infected by the virus and were fortunate to survive this monster. As we enter the 18th month, we are still faced with the predicted fourth wave. It is therefore upon all of us to be patriotic, take responsibility, and play our roles in fighting this virus by following the health guidelines that we are all familiar with by now. As the President of the Convocation, I encourage you to take the opportunity to vaccinate so we can stand a better chance of reducing mortality rates in the fourth wave. Together we can make a difference and win this battle. On that note, allow me the opportunity to pass a message of condolences to the families of all members of the Convocation who have passed on due to COVID- related complications in the past 17 months. I also wish to pass my condolences to members of the Convocation who have lost their loved ones during this period; may their souls rest in eternal peace. We are preparing for our second AGM of the Convocation, which will take place on 13th of October 2021. Together with the Alumni Office, we have been working hard to put together numerous events for alumni and future alumni, our present student body. We wish to give you a brief report of activities that have taken place in 2021 despite the challenging times in which we found ourselves. Yes, we are very aware that our activities did not go as planned. However, we will all appreciate that the pandemic has taught us that we live in a fluid period, thus requiring of us to be flexible.

Message from Prof Boitumelo Diale - UJ Convocation President

Dear Alumni.

with the COVID-19 pandemic. We also never anticipated that our lives would change forever. As we are now doing our best to adjust to the ‘new normal’, we are also coming to terms with the havoc the pandemic has caused in our lives. We started talking about and referring to statistics as presented by the media; however, we are now

On 27 March 2020, when the country went into a lockdown, we were all confident that this is but a phase, and soon we would be back to our normal routines and life will continue as normal. Little did we know that 17 months later, we will still be struggling

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