We know nothing about the coronavirus
Several local residents approached by Kathorus MAIL for comments, openly admitted that the only information they have about the virus was what they read about in newspapers, radio and television, as well from fake news and conspiracy theories peddled by gossip mongers in the townships.
Barely a week after President Cyril Ramaphosa declared the Covid-19 a national disaster, scores of residents in informal settlements in Kathorus admitted that their worst fears about the spread of the pandemic was their ignorance and lack of understanding of the deadly disease.
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“Other than that, we know absolutely nothing about the coronavirus,” said a barber shop shop owner, Dumisani Mathebula.
Mathebula, who has closed down his informal hair salon business, a decision that has impacted negatively on his livelihood.
He said he did so because he feared spreading the disease. His only wish is to see more small businesses in the in the settlement join hands to create awareness about the pandemic.
“Right now, people are scared, and none of us is adequately equipped to deal with this condition. But on the other hand, we as society also cannot just sit back and do nothing, even if means fighting against a disease we neither understand nor equipped to deal with,” said the salon owner.
His views on fighting the virus were echoed by other informal settlement residents in Kathorus. The majority of the residents said they were paralysed by fear posed by the disease on their communities. They also said they find themselves helpless trying to protect their families without any guidelines from health authorities.
“None of us is trained to deal with the scale of what this coronavirus might turn out to be, given what is already happening in other parts of the world.
“It is the duty of each of us as South Africans to join the president, and the rest of the nation, in the fight against the potential scourge of this deadly coronavirus. But my problem is that, like everyone else, we cannot join the fight unless we have the means to wage a war against the virus,” explained Mathebula.
He said his greatest concern was what would happen to families living in informal settlements in the event of a full-blown outbreak of the disease. He believes their confined environment poses an even greater danger for the rest of the region, and called on the health authorities to take immediate action to prevent infections and potential loss of lives.
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“None of us has any idea what we would need to do to protect ourselves and our family from being infected by the coronavirus in such a situation.
“We live in the most vulnerable informal settlements, some of them with little or no running water, and other basic amenities. The fact that none of us know anything about this disease is in its own quite frightening,” lamented a street restaurant and spaza shop owner, Neliswa Sotondoshe.
Sotondoshe said she prides herself for on being the first local informal business trader to heed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s call on March 14 where he declared coronavirus a national threat. She closed her informal street restaurant because she wanted to protect her customers’ lives, and help prevent the spread of the virus.
“I did my bit by closing my informal street restaurant,” she said.
The nearby taxi rank also serves as the main informal business hub, reflecting the shabby image of the settlement. A group of local taxi owners told Kathorus MAIL they have been accused of risking the lives of their passengers.
The group said they wer also are unable to provide passengers with answers and solutions to the virus.
“We are all just as puzzled why the passengers want to know from us why our taxis are not equipped with gloves, masks and sanitiser bottles,” said one of the taxi operators.
A number of informal street restaurants in some areas remained open selling a variety of traditional dishes to the delight of their regular customers. They said although they are aware of the threat posed by the virus, they also want to be seen as part of awareness campaigners, about the virus.
“We would like to be supplied with sanitisers to help our clients,” said Dan Maqanda, who manages a popular street restaurant known as “Kwa Nyama Ayipheli”.
He dismissed the notion that informal township food outlets are unhealthy and unhygienic.
“We always offer our clients a bowl of clean water to wash their hands before and after their meals. Most of our dishes are traditionally consumed by hand. We just need the authorities to reinforce our sanitary efforts against this deadly disease by supplying us with water and sanitisers,” said Maqanda.
Meanwhile, residents of the nearby Emlotheni informal settlement section described their “dark-ages” existence as “primitive” and “highly vulnerable” to the dangers posed by the virus.
“We live a very precarious existence under very difficult conditions, and now this coronavirus has made things even worse,” said a resident who asked not to be named.
The fear in the eyes of the community, especially the elderly, is evident, while groups of unconcerned youths don’t seem to even care to know about the virus. Worse still, what would happen to them in the event of the virus contaminating their settlement, and what this would mean to the region and the people living in it?
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