Spinning tales of cures

[Dr Reddy]( [Mail & Guardian Newsletter logo](#) [mg.co.za]( [The Ampersand Daily Newsletter from the M&G team](#) [Divider Strip] May 12 2020 | [View in browser]( [Divider Strip] [Facebook icon]( [Twitter icon]( [Instagram icon]( [LinkedIn icon]( Hi there, How did a club DJ who managed to become president via a coup become a talking point in the fight against the novel coronavirus? Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina's "cure" is well known by now. He has happily paraded Covid-Organics in front of anybody who would listen, offered it to school kids, and even managed to flog a few bottles to some of his counterparts. When a suggestion by two French doctors to test a vaccine on Africans was made, the uproar was swift and rightly so. We are nobody's lab rat. Africa has an ugly and ongoing history of medical racism. But why is it when one of our own is peddling an untested solution, the response has been silence? Aanu Adeoye and Simon Allison report that when African heads of state met for a video call at the end of last month, [no one was willing to call out]( Rajoelina's news that he had stumbled upon this cure. Despite their reservations and the DJ's failure to offer any evidence of its efficacy, there was an air of taboo against calling him out. As one source puts it: "You know how it works at the African Union. Once people say such a thing, his peers are supposed to compliment him." Those who remember the dark chapter of South African history in which former Health Minister Manto Tshabalala Msimang recommended a diet of garlic and beetroot to treat HIV/Aids need not be told twice about the dangers of under-tested herbal concoctions. Meanwhile in Nigeria, Covid-19 has a [harrowing Ebola cautionary tale]( to refer to: when health workers died trying to save one patient's life. Read Shola Lawal's report on Dr Ameyo Adadevoh, who figured out that something was gravely wrong and did something about it, only to pay with her life. Allegations of abuse and excessive use of force by the security forces have been a feature during the Covid-19 pandemic. There have been at least eight deaths, allegedly at the hands of security forces, since the start of the lockdown. In South Africa, Collins Khosa died on Good Friday after an altercation with members of the South African National Defence Force and allegedly at their hands. Franny Rabkin reports that the Defence Force and the Independent Police Investigative Directorate now say their inquiries into his death are [not complete](. What else is happening in the (virtual) newsroom Like everybody else, our newsroom is eagerly trying to fill the large void left by the absence of sport to watch. One solution we've come up with is to revisit the legacy of the 2010 World Cup a decade on. You can read the first part of our new series [here](. Need a change of pace? Sign up for our [free webinars](. There's something for everyone in there -- from personal growth to professional development. And all for the price of R0.00! Register now. Yours in solidarity Kiri Rupiah & Luke Feltham [Divider Strip] [PPS]( [Divider Strip] [Facebook icon]( [Twitter icon]( [Instagram icon]( [LinkedIn icon]( You are receiving this email on {EMAIL} because 1.) You're a member of "Mail & Guardian" or 2.) previously subscribed [M&G logo] 25 Owl St, Braamfontein Werf, Johannesburg, 2092 Want to be removed? No problem! [UNSUBSCRIBE]( Email support: help@media-connect.co.za - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -