Message from Chief Scout Brendon Hausberger

Dear Scouting Members,

As we face the challenges of the third COVID wave in South Africa, we have reviewed the Scout Activity Regulations to keep you safe and to comply with the revised Level 3 national regulations. Find them here.

Sadly, I am sure most of us now know someone who is either sick or recovering from COVID in our family or circle of friends.  While for some people this is a somewhat mild disease, we have a responsibility towards those who are or who may get seriously ill, to continue to practice social distancing and observe good hygiene.  When we do gather for activities or to interact, let’s keep it in well ventilated spaces or outdoors as much as possible considering the winter weather.

The changes for our permitted activities are limited to reducing the number of participants in activities and respecting the adjusted curfew times.  However, we fully respect that the Scouters on the ground may find it necessary to stop or postpone some events due to infections in the community or concerns from parents.  If you as the Scouter in charge of an activity believe that it is necessary to postpone an event or suspend programmes, you have our full support to do so. We encourage you wherever possible to reschedule these events for later, rather than just having outright cancellations.

For those who must cancel activities and who are able to, we encourage you to utilise online or virtual programme activities to keep our members engaged, healthy and active. Making progress and keeping focused on moving forward is a real need for many of our young people, and we have learnt from the last 18 months that we are able to use these tools to support them when we aren’t able to meet in person.

Be safe and look after yourselves, your family members and communities!

Yours in Scouting,

Brendon Hausberger
Chief Scout