Coronavirus lockdown poses a serious health threat
The first day of the three-week national lockdown to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic is frustrating the local police and creating a serious revenue problem for taxi operators and transport problems for their passengers.
According to the Katlehong SAPS Cluster, the general disregard for the national lockdown call by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday, March 23, for the country’s citizens to remain indoors and local businesses to remain shut is stretching the patience of the police.
“We are on the streets busy patrolling and urging people to get off the streets and return to their yards,” said Capt Mega Ndobe of the Katlehong SAPS on the first day of the 21-day lockdown.
Ndobe told Kathorus MAIL that patrolling police units found many local spaza shops open and operating and scores of people seemed to be ignoring the call to confine their movements to their properties and not walk around in the streets.
“Some of the people are just standing around in small numbers or just walking about the streets as normal,” Ndobe said.
There is a concern that, unlike the police, members of the SANDF will not tolerate any insolence or insubordination by members of the public.
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“The soldiers will be on our streets soon to maintain law and order and anyone who will dare disobey their instructions will find them less tolerant and accommodating than the normal police,” warned Ndobe.
Members of the public who were found walking the streets around Vosloorus just shrugged their shoulders and continued walking when asked about the lockdown.
“What do you expect me to say to you?” asked one of the young men, who was carrying groceries from the local shopping complex. “My family has to be fed,” replied the man, and continued walking.
Meanwhile, for the thousands of essential employees who still depend on public taxi transport to ferry them to work and back, the health risk has become a scary reality.
With taxis now limited to ferrying fewer passengers to avoid congestion, owners are beginning to feel the loss of revenue and are risking taking normal loads, thus increasing the dangerous prospect of spreading the coronavirus.
Taxi drivers explained that, despite the restrictions, the taxi bosses still expect them to bring home the same amount of money they used to earn before the lockdown.
“Otherwise you are threatened with losing your job. Your boss will simply tell you there are many drivers looking for work out there,” said a driver who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal.
For the passengers, this has led to scores arriving late at work and most are unable to go to work.
A taxi driver at the Volsoorus Taxi Rank said the fare impasse with their bosses would be discussed during an indaba to be held next week Tuesday.
Elsewhere around Vosloorus and Thokoza, scores of residents, among them young children, could be seen walking about and some shops were conducting business as usual.
“I have a host of customers who rely on my shop for their essential needs and cannot just ignore them,” replied a Bangladeshi shop owner when asked why his Vosloorus spaza shop was still operating despite the lockdown.
At the main intersection on the corner of Nombhela and Bierman Drive, many of the shops on both sides of the intersection were open and customers were going about and taking advantage of the 9am cut-off time.
At the time of going to press, no criminal incidents had been reported to the police.
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