South Africans battle to bridge digital divide
KIM HARRISBERG WHEN Esther Dhlamini went to collect her pension in Johannesburg's Soweto township, she was surprised to find a local bishop on hand to soothe her fears about COVID-19 vaccination and register her for the jab on his mobile phone. Community "foot soldiers" like the bishop are among numerous initiatives being scrambled across South Africa to tackle a digital divide that threatens to hit vaccine take-up among people without internet access - including many pensioners. "I was afraid to get vaccinated and didn't know how to," said Dhlamini, 71, outside the Boxer supermarket where she goes each month to…