COVID-19 and the academy in South Africa: Not business as usual

Abstract

The famous R.E.M. song laments ‘It’s the end of the world as we know it, I had some time alone, I feel fine…’. Many South Africans would agree that COVID-19 signals the end of the world (or business) as we know it, and through the lockdown we have certainly had some time alone. But contrary to the lyrics, all may not be fine, especially for South Africa’s scientific community. h Africa: Not business as usual. S Afr J Sci. 2020;116(7/8), Art. #8298, 3 pages. https://doi.

AFFILIATIONS: Department of Geography, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa Department of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Fort Hare, Alice, South Africa Centre for Ecological Genomics and Wildlife Conservation, Department of Zoology, University of Johannesburg, South Africa