Must-Watch: A bird’s-eye view of Pretoria under lockdown

On Monday, 23 March 2020 President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a nationwide lockdown which started on Thursday, 26 March and will last until midnight on 16 April as part of a strategic plan to curb the spread of the novel Covid-19 coronavirus.

Local videographer, Carel Nel, the creative mind behind 1988| Films took to the streets of Pretoria to explore the eery quietness and the strangely empty streets during this unprecedented time, a time which we will look back on and tell our children about.

Watch the video as he captures the beauty a nation united in lockdown.

Carel is a renowned videographer and he has been working in the industry for many years. He started 1988 | Films about two years and ago and has been creating amazing video content since then. We spoke to him about his experience filming under lockdown, how he has personally been affected and what positives he hopes will come from this time.

Carel says the message in the video was inspired by his wife.

“My wife is the one behind the words. I showed her the video footage and she immediately liked the one clip I took with the drone, where I fly away from a building with all its windows. It basically inspired the message.”

He says the strangest part of filming during this time was filming at Church Square. “There are usually homeless people at Church Square and there were none. That was the strangest thing.”

The global economic impact of Covid-19 is being felt all over the world, in every industry. As a result of the lockdown, many of Carel’s shoots and events have been cancelled or postponed, causing economic stress on the creative film industry too.

READ MORE: Covid-19: Thousands arrested since start of lockdown

He said “Working from home is normal for us, but we miss going out as a family. We like to buy coffee and then drive through the city, stopping at the Union Buildings or driving down the streets of Muckleneuk, so it’s bad for us and our little boy.”

Carel believes there are many positives when you look past the negatives. “I think the biggest winner during the lockdown is families. Families get to spend more time together. We live in such a rush, we live past one another. Parents work, kids are at school all day and the time you get together in the afternoons or evenings are minimal because food has to be cooked, the kids bathed, people watch TV and then you have to sleep and repeat it until the weekend comes around. I think quality time is the biggest positive. I hope everyone uses it to play together and not just binge watch on Netflix.”

Carel says another big positive is the fact that the earth now has time to recover too.

“Once everything is over, things will happen at an incredible speed. Parents will need to catch up at work because businesses will need to be rebuilt, children will have to go back to school and then everyone will fall back into their routines.”

Carel says parents should use this time to play with their children, big or small, and do things as a family that you can continue to do in the future too.

READ MORE: Motorists urged to be alert even during lockdown

Notice: Coronavirus reporting at Caxton Local Media aims to combat fake news. 

Dear reader,

As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19.

Readers with any comments or queries may contact National Group Editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or Legal Adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za).