Locals do not appear to be taking the 21-day national lockdown seriously.
Despite a nationwide appeal to ‘flatten the curve’, store managers in Vryheid have complained that shoppers were not adhering to the rule of social distancing despite clear floor and queue markings.
There are even reports of parties being hosted at residential homes.
Store managers the Herald spoke to urged shoppers to keep one metre apart from other shoppers, and to only go out to purchase essential items such as food and medication.
It is advised that only one person leave the home for this reason.
Vryheider, Tersia Mulligan was among the many queuing at a local store shortly before the lockdown commenced, and sent a comment to the Herald via WhatsApp: “Lockdown is iets wat ons as Suid Afrikaners beslis nie voor reg was nie. Dis iets wat te vinnig met te kort kennisgewing vir ons gegee is. Maar kan verstaan dat soveel van ons in paniek gegaan het alhoewel daar vir ons gesê was dat die winkels gaan oop wees. Daaglikse noodsaaklikhede is die eerste ding waaroor ek bekommerd was, aangesien ek elke dag vars koop. So het ek ook besef, toe ek soos baie mense vroeg in ‘n ry Donderdag-oggend voor Clicks moes staan, dat daar soveel mense daarbuite nie elke dag vitamienes inneem of net die basiese higiëne toepas nie. En toe die virus ons tref, toe ‘panic’ almal. Maar ons moet die Covid-19 wat ons nou tref met ope arms verwelkom en die tyd wat ons in insolasie met ons gesin geplaas het gebruik en net weer besef hoe kosbaar hulle is. So asseblief bly by die huis nie net vir jou gesondheid nie, maar ook vir jou geliefdes.”
The alleged disregard showed to the lockdown by some residents prompted Minister of Police, Bheki Cele to comment in the national media that he didn’t know ‘what is happening in Northern KwaZulu-Natal’, mentioning Estcourt, Ladysmith, Newcastle, Dundee and Vryheid specifically.
He believes ‘those people are not going to tell us that they don’t know what they are supposed to do’.
With that stern warning given, residents are urged to note that the lockdown is a drastic measure taken by Government to contain the spread of Covid-19, which has claimed around 30 000 lives (at the time of going to print) and has infected more than a half-million people worldwide.
At the time of publication, South Africa had more than 1 000 infected people.

Read the full article in the paper of April 3.

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