OPINION: ‘SA needs a strong and confident captain to steer us through the uncharted waters of Covid-19’

Dear Editor,

We are now into June, so six months of the year have passed. Certainly this year has been exceptional and unique as things have changed so much that life is almost unrecognisable from a mere six months ago.

The rise of the Covid-19 pandemic prompted extreme measures for the safety of all South Africans, and the lockdown has been widely acclaimed by many, including numerous overseas observers.

However, using the analogy used by President Cyril Ramaphosa who likened South Africa to a ship ‘sailing into uncharted waters’, the country needs most urgently a captain at the helm who is honest and observant and confident enough to chart the best course.

The constant ‘dithering’ and changing of guidelines does not instill confidence in a general public already confused and alarmed by events, which are unprecedented and unpredictable. South Africa is already a nation split by a considerable divide, with a huge gap between the different racial groups, and it must be acknowledged that what works in one area might not work or may even be counterproductive in another.

The outright ban on cigarette and alcohol sales is very difficult to understand, let alone justify.

Perhaps the custom of sharing a ciggie or passing around the bottle, which may be common in certain areas, would be disastrous for the spread of the virus, and it was for this reason that the ban was initiated. So, due to lack of education on health reasons, the whole of the population must suffer a complete ban.

For many retired people, exercise is a most important daily activity, and there are many retired people within all communities.Yet there were severe restrictions placed on exercise with regard to time and place. There was no real justification for many of the petty and draconian measures that were enforced.

While there may be light at the end of the tunnel and some relaxation of these ‘knee jerk’ laws, there is still no news about walking on the beaches, which was an error of considerable magnitude.

Nobody is immune to making mistakes – indeed it is a most human trait. But when a mistake has been made it takes a human being of a special calibre to admit it and to readdress the issue and move on. It is regrettable that no such action has been evident from this Government, and this is not to its credit.

Those who are hurt the most are the poorest of the communities, those who are the most vulnerable, those people who need help the most. One has only to pass by the Post Office on pension day to experience the people ‘herded’ together whilst they await a pittance to help them survive another month. And yet because of the lockdown, many jobs in the informal sector have been cancelled. So the poor become even poorer.

All the efforts by the local and central government appear to have been for the sake of the ‘cameras’ but it has been a miserable failure for the poor, those who voted for these politicians and their many promises that have failed to materialise.

We can perhaps be forgiven for thinking that many of the regulations used to ‘protect’ the population have been nothing more than a blatant demonstration of ‘power’ for in retrospect these measures have helped nobody except the criminal elements, those that feed off the poor, the downtrodden and the weak.

There are many who long for the return of the way things were six months ago. But these people lack imagination for now is the time to make corrections to the way we live, to make things better for all. Then South Africa can be a light for the rest of the world to follow.

CROSS

(Concerned Resident Of Scottburgh South)

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