2020: A YEAR TO FORGET – PICTURES
THE Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture should have been the most talkedabout event this year, had it not been for the Covid-19 pandemic.
From former president Jacob Zuma claiming to be friends with the commission’s chairperson, Justice Raymond Zondo, to advocate Dali Mpofu and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan’s public spat, one was riveted or baffled, but especially by one Dudu Myeni, the former chairperson of the SAA, for refusing to answer questions at the inquiry.
“May I not answer the question, Chairperson, in case I incriminate myself,” she responded a numerous times when questioned about her CV and her signature.
But again, in February the Angolan dance troupe Fenómenos do Semba created the viral #JerusalemaDanceChallenge video that showed off their dance moves to the South African hit song Jerusalema.
In the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, the #JerusalemaDanceChallenge video generated a counter-contagion. Almost overnight everyone from police departments in Africa to priests in Europe was posting their own Jerusalema dance videos that repeated the choreography.
Here is the list of the main events of 2020:
JANUARY 26: US basketball legend Kobe Bryant, 41, and his daughter Gianna, 13, die in a helicopter crash.
FEBRUARY 11: Grammy award-winning singer Joseph Tshabalala of the multi-awardwinning maskandi group Ladysmith Black Mambazo dies. He was 80.
MARCH 5: The National Institute for Communicable Diseases confirms a case of Covid-19 after a 38-year-old Durban man tests positive. He had travelled to Italy with his family.
MARCH 23: President Cyril Ramaphosa announces lockdown in South Africa for 21 days from March 26 to April 16 to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
MARCH 30: Musician Bill Withers dies at 81. The Ain’t No Sunshine singer died of heart complications.
APRIL 6: Popular Jam Alley presenter and TV personality Vinolia Mashego dies. She was 56.
APRIL 16: Ramaphosa extends lockdown alert level 5 to the end of April.
APRIL 29: Denis Goldberg, accused number 3 in the world-famous Rivonia Trial, dies. He was 87.
MAY 1: The National Coronavirus Command Council continues the lockdown, but drops the alert level to 4 from May 1 to May 31.
MAY 25: African-American George Floyd, 46, is murdered in Minnesota, US, when a white police officer pins him down with a knee on his neck for 8 minutes 46 seconds. The incident sparks BlackLivesMatter protests globally.
JUNE 1: Alert level 3 starts from June 1 to August 17.
JUNE 1: Grade 7 and Grade 12 pupils return to class as announced by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga, after more than two months at home.
JULY 11: Five people shot dead and 30 suspects arrested in a hostage drama at the International Pentecost Holiness Church in Zuurbekom, west of Johannesburg.
JULY 13: Zindzi Mandela dies at age 59. She was the daughter of Struggle stalwarts Nelson and Winnie Mandela.
JULY 21: Andrew Mlangeni, the last of the Rivonia trialists, dies. He was 95.
AUGUST 10: Legendary radio personality Bob Mabena dies. He was 52 years old.
AUGUST 18: Alert level 2 runs from August 18 to September 20.
SEPTEMBER 9: Advocate George Bizos dies at age 92. He was a Struggle hero and a long-time ally of Nelson Mandela.
SEPTEMBER 21: Alert level 1 starts from September 21 to date.
OCTOBER 2: Successful football coach Pitso Mosimane makes history by joining Egyptian giants Al Ahly.
OCTOBER 24: Limpopo-born model Shudufhadzo Musida is crowned Miss South Africa.
NOVEMBER 19: Kwaito sensation Nomasonto Mshoza Maswanganyi dies at age 37.
NOVEMBER 11: Auditor-general Kimi Makwetu dies of lung cancer at age 54.
NOVEMBER 14: Controversial selfproclaimed prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife Mary flee to Malawi after being granted R200k bail each. They were facing moneylaundering charges.
NOVEMBER 23: Former South African football international Anele Ngcongca dies in a car accident near Mtunzini, KwaZulu-Natal.
NOVEMBER 25: Argentinian soccer star Diego Maradona dies. He was 60.