ribbons of remembrance

St James Presbyterian Church caretaker Silva Cossa knots ribbon onto the Bedfordview, Ekurhuleni property’s perimeter fence. Each ribbon symbolises a life lost to Covid-19.

On a biting cold winter’s morning, church caretaker Silva Cossa stands at the fence line with a bucket of white satin ribbons.

The 62-year-old dutifully braids each length of fabric around each palisade in the quiet, his gnarled hands pausing only to greet a passing friend.

Silva is a practised hand. Every day he ties hundreds of ribbons to the fence outside the St James Presbyterian Church in Bedfordview, Ekurhuleni.

He has done this thousands of times.

Each ribbon denotes a life lost to the Covid-19 pandemic, and with the death toll reaching 5,033 on Sunday night, the church is fast running out of fence space.

“Once our fence line is full, we’re thinking about using a different colour of ribbon to symbolise 10 or 20 lives lost.

“It is a fairly grim undertaking,” pastor Gavin Lock said.

The stark reminder of the death toll, he said, was to honour those who had died and to counter a rising narrative that the Covid-19 pandemic was a hoax.

“It was important for us, without being sidetracked by the rhetoric, to be able to remember those who had been lost and to stand in solidarity with those spouses and partners, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters who were grieving a loved one,” Lock said.

“During the early days of the pandemic, to many the virus seemed surreal, as hardly anyone knew of someone who was infected, let alone who had died from the illness.

“Now we have lost people in our congregation ... some of our parishioners are also critically ill. This is real to us,” he said.

Across the country, hospitals have been stretched to their limits, with health minister Zweli Mkhize announcing that SA was now in the eye of the storm.

“These fluttering ribbons provide a visual indication of each life that has been lost and thereby each family that should be held in our hearts and our prayers.

“This a reminder that the Covid-19 pandemic is something to be taken seriously,” Lock said.

He said he hoped the ribbons would spur people to take responsibility.

“In spite of the senseless suffering during the pandemic and our own personal struggles, together we have found meaning in remembering the victims and sharing the pain of the grieving,” Lock said.

“The tying of each ribbon is a sacred moment of remembering, but also of discovering grace and meaning in each other, across different backgrounds and experiences, in the midst of shared suffering.”