2020 – the year of disruption

Time magazine dubbed 2020 the worst year ever. On its latest cover, it features “2020” with a large red “X” through it, marking the end of an historic year, but not the end of a battle. The first time it did this was in 1945 to mark the death of Adolf Hitler.

“This is the story of a year you’ll never want to revisit,” writes author Stephanie Zacharek, pointing out that “most of us alive today have seen nothing like this one”.

As a community, we’ve experienced far worse in our past, but this has been utterly unforgettable. And while it’s never good to wish time away, 31 December cannot come fast enough for fear of what still lurks.

This week alone saw hundreds of matriculants convalesce in quarantine having tested positive for COVID-19 following the outrageous Rage festival – hopefully the absolute final rotten cherry on the top of this crazy year.

Cast your mind back to New Year’s Eve 2019, when you may have heard of Wuhan for the first time, shrugging your shoulders as you sipped champagne. As the clock struck midnight, you may have been thinking about that new job, that hard-earned raise, that trip of a lifetime, your child’s matric year, or about expanding your small business, planning a wedding, or having a baby.

In all likelihood, your plans and dreams went out the window.

It has been novel in every respect, giving rise to a new vocabulary and way of life. From Zoom funerals; elbow-bump greetings; drive-by simchas; stockpiling toilet paper; working remotely; endless webinars; online learning; social distancing; lockdowns; hand washing and sanitising (everything including groceries); to ridiculous, ill-fitting face masks; bizarre hotel quarantines; and empty football stadiums with surround sound pre-recorded cheering; to a delayed Olympic Games and Netflix becoming our “BFF”.

2020 can rightly be called the Great Year of Disruption, having taught us that nothing is predictable. As it nears its end, here’s a look back at some of the stories that grabbed our attention.

January was marked by devastating Australian bushfires which killed a billion animals and brought many to the brink of extinction. Images of desperate koala bears clinging for life on burning trees were etched in our memory for life.

We were shocked by the tragic drowning of Parktown Boys’ High School pupil Enock Mpianzi, 13, during a Grade 8 orientation camp at Nyati Bush and River Break Lodge near Brits in the North West. This resulted in schools across the community reassessing safety measures and protocols.

A United States (US) airstrike killed top Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, which resulted in Iran retaliating with a ballistic missile strike on US troops in Iraq, causing mayhem in the region and Jewish communities worldwide strengthening security measures.

The impeachment trial of outgoing US President Donald Trump began in the US Senate which resulted in him being acquitted the following month.

In March, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic while the world watched aghast as the Italian government placed its entire country on lockdown. Haunting footage was shared of overburdened Italian hospitals and elderly patients dying alone in corridors as exhausted doctors and healthcare workers covered in personal protective equipment battled in vain to save their lives. This was followed by much the same misery in Spain and other parts of Europe, coupled with a deep sense of foreboding as the first COVID-19 patients arrived in KwaZulu-Natal from skiing trips in Italy.

It hit our community after that infamous 40th birthday party in Westport, Connecticut, in the US, where several members of the community unwittingly contracted the dreaded virus. This brought out the worst in some of us as we stigmatised anyone suspected of spreading it.

At the same time, it galvanised the community into action resulting in an extraordinary display of communal leadership and solidarity in a bid to safeguard the community.

There was a sense of national pride as President Cyril Ramaphosa lead our nation for what seemed like the first time announcing a national lockdown to “flatten the curve” (new vocabulary).

Initially it felt like a holiday as families came together and spent endless amounts of quality time walking dogs, sharing banana bread recipes, and making TikTok videos.

The 2020 Pesach seder will no doubt go down in the history books as both weird and wonderful, and will provide stories for future generations.

But soon the novelty wore off. While the WHO commended South Africa’s immediate response to the pandemic, the lockdown had a devastating effect on the economy and livelihoods, exposing gaping inequalities.

There was an endless drumbeat of morbid stories and pictures of pain and suffering, as well as heartwarming stories of communal organisations and ordinary people making an extraordinary impact during an unprecedented time of generosity and kindness.

Disturbing scenes of local soldiers enforcing draconian lockdown restrictions across townships and suburbs and the untimely gruesome death of Collins Khoza and others at the hands of the South African National Defence Force will forever be a blight on the national conscience. So too will the effect of lockdown on gender-based violence in the country as shocking statistics reveal the extent of the problem.

The ban on alcohol and cigarette sales took up much headline space as many resorted to buying cigarettes illegally. Although South Africans bemoaned the restrictions, people found lots to laugh about. Memes, parodies, TikTok dances (parodying Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and her now famous “zol” speech) as well as huge doses of humour and feel-good stories united South Africans during the year. The proudly South African gospel song Jerusalema by Master KG became a global sensation and had the world dancing through the pandemic with the artist going on to win Best African Act Award at the 2020 MTV Europe Music Awards.

The US was convulsed by countrywide protests following the gruesome death of George Floyd by a white police officer who knelt on his neck for several minutes during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Floyd’s death sparked global protests about racial inequality and police brutality, and renewed pledges by the Black Lives Matter movement and others to fight racism.

2020 was a year of hurricanes, typhoons, plane crashes, space explorations, fake news, conspiracy theories, and online shopping. It included historic agreements and Israel normalising relations with several Arab nations.

The most controversial and watched news item of the year was no doubt the highly contested US presidential election battle between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. This fought alongside the pandemic for domination of the news cycle.

Sadly the world lost more than 1.5 million people to COVID-19.

It has also lost many beautiful souls who left this earth for other tragic reasons, including people like professional American basketball player Kobe Bryant, US actor and Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman, singer songwriter Joseph Shabalala, Zindzi Mandela, actress Elize Cawood, Dawn Lindberg and Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu, as well as actor Sean Connery. We witnessed the passing of the irreplaceable Ruth Bader Ginsberg, George Bizos, Denis Goldberg, and Diego Maradona.

This has been the Great Year of Disruption characterised by scuppered plans, a sense of loss about life experiences unfilled, loved ones not seen or embraced, and time that’s impossible to get back, but it’s also been the Great Year of Change and Reset. 2020 has tested us all beyond measure. We can only hope we will pass the next test with flying colours.