I started writing this letter last month, but was unable to complete it as my team and I had to multi-task on many different fronts, one of which was to bring our strategy process to a close. I’m happy to report that we have now completed our strategy and will move to its implementation over the next four years. I want to thank all of you who sent inputs and gave us insights that helped us to formulate our game-changing, high-impact areas of investment over the next four years.

Death, arrest and attack, these are some of the challenges facing journalists on the continent and around the world. In South Africa, the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the closure of several media houses and left hundreds of journalists without jobs. We need to protect the rights and livelihoods of journalists given their critical role on the frontline.

Heading up a philanthropic foundation during the toxic brew of COVID-19, which has brought a health, humanitarian and economic crisis and a fundamental shakeup of civil society has been both a deeply challenging ordeal, as well as an opportunity to reset and grab opportunities that promise a long-term ability to build back better.

When my team and I first began tracking the new coronavirus as it spread across the globe, we thought about it in abstract terms: a problem to be solved. We focused specifically on how the virus would impact South Africa, given the particular challenges we face, such as glaring inequality coupled with high rates of TB, HIV/Aids and noncommunicable diseases.

I’ve received a flood of emails since sending out my last email in January. Some writers offered words of encouragement; others posed questions. I have been unable to respond to each email due to a frenetic global induction schedule coupled with my regular work, but please be assured that I have read every one.

Today marks my 45th day at the helm of the Open Society Foundation for South Africa (OSF-SA) – an organisation I have long admired for its bravery in advancing equality, social justice and basic human rights in my country – and as a member of the African and global Open Society Foundations. This time has been something of a whirlwind for me but also stimulating and enlightening. It has filled me with hope and a sense of purpose.

New York—The Open Society Foundations announced today the formation of a new $330,000 fund to support human rights defenders in South Africa, who in recent years have faced a steady increase in harassment, intimidation, and violence. Over three years, the fund—known as The South African Human Rights Defenders Fund—will support advocates working on land, housing, and environmental rights, with a special emphasis on aiding women advocates who face threats and violence.