Just when we thought we were safe, dusted off our masks for keepsakes, and finally stopped sanitising our groceries — boom! A new viral guest decides to show up: Chikungunya.
Yes, that's the name. And no, it's not a new amapiano artist or a fancy cocktail at Konka. It’s a mosquito-borne virus that sounds like something your aunty might shout when she drops a hot pan.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has confirmed 10 travel-related cases of this Chikungunya virus in South Africa already this year. Meanwhile, over in China’s Guangdong province, more than 7,000 people have been infected.
The virus causes fever and joint pain that can last for years. YEARS, guys. Not weeks, not months — years. At this rate, even our joints are tired of South Africa’s constant drama.
Apparently, Chikungunya was first detected in Tanzania in 1952 — which is older than half our Cabinet. And it’s making a comeback like it’s been doing yoga and taking multivitamins. We thought mosquitoes were just annoying little buzzers that ruined summer nights, but now they’re flying around like they’re working for the devil. Honestly, if your ancestors didn’t fight in the liberation struggle, dodging mosquitoes in 2025 might be your personal battle for freedom.
What makes this even funnier (and sadder) is that South Africans don’t panic like other countries. Oh no, we laugh first, ask questions later. The news broke and within minutes, Twitter was buzzing with jokes like, “Chikungunya sounds like a new breed of chicken wings” and “South Africans surviving load shedding, petrol hikes, and now viruses with syllables we can't spell.”
We're built different. Pandemic after pandemic, we just keep dancing, singing, and throwing in a meme or two.
But jokes aside, let’s not sleep on this one. Chikungunya is no joke — fever, joint pain, headaches, and possibly years of discomfort is not something we want to add to our “list of things we survived”. And with our history of ignoring health warnings until it’s trending on TikTok, maybe let’s take this one a bit more seriously.
Wear mosquito repellent like it’s your new perfume. Close your windows. If you’re travelling, stay vigilant. And no, rubbing Zambuk on your ankles won’t cure it.
Prof Tulio de Oliveira from the Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation at Stellenbosch University is warning us for a reason. We didn’t listen with COVID at first, and we ended up locked in the house baking banana bread for six months. Let’s not make that mistake again — I’m not emotionally strong enough for another Zoom family meeting.
So while we can laugh (because it’s our coping mechanism), let’s also remember: awareness saves lives. Mosquitoes may be small, but they’re clearly working overtime. And in a country where even the pigeons look stressed, let’s give our immune systems a break, man.
South Africa, we’ve survived the unimaginable. Chikungunya might be hard to say, but together? We’ll get through it — with humour, common sense, and a lot of Peaceful Sleep.
