About

This Pokello collection features social listening reports from the National Department of Health curated during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Social listening can be defined as a form of monitoring media content and discourse around health-related topics for community concerns and questions, promoting understanding of risk and health expert advice, building resilience to information, and engaging and empowering communities to take positive action. Social listening is used to produce a social listening report around a specific event to capture and address these concerns as well as recommend insights and strategies to strengthen health promotion (Leburu, et al., 2022). Since the COVID-19 pandemic, social listening has been applied to digital media, including social media platforms (WHO, 2021). 


Contents

  • The collection is made up of 91 reports from 2021 to 2023
  • It includes 91 PDFs of the reports
  • There is also statistics related to COVID-19 included in the archive such as cumulative number of hospitalisations, recoveries, deaths and total number of vaccines included.
  • There is also a summary of the key trends of the report, types of misinformation and recommendations.
  • Stakeholders and the curators of the reports

Purpose:  The aim of this collection is to make the Social Listening Reports from South Africa’s National Department of Health during the COVID-19 pandemic freely accessible to researchers, public health practitioners, and members of the public. These reports reflect how government monitored public conversations, concerns, and misinformation during the pandemic, and how that feedback shaped health communication and response strategies. By preserving and presenting these reports in a digital archive, the collection offers valuable insight into how South Africa responded to a major public health emergency. It highlights the role of social listening as a tool for understanding public sentiment and guiding decision-making in real time.
This collection is particularly relevant for those interested in:

  • How government engaged with communities during a crisis
  • The evolution of public health messaging
  • Lessons for future responses to health emergencies
  • The use of data and public feedback in shaping policy

In the broader context, this archive contributes to global efforts to understand and improve responses to Public Health Emergencies of International Concern (PHEIC). It stands as a resource for learning, reflection, and preparedness ensuring that South Africa’s experience during the COVID-19 pandemic informs future strategies both locally and internationally.


Technical Notes:

  • Items are tagged using Dublin Core metadata standards.
  • Linked to relevant resources via Omeka S Resource Templates.
  • Modules used include CSV Import for bulk uploads