#Lockdown: Day five into lockdown
While many have complied with the set rules and regulations, others have defiantly violated them, evidently finding themselves on the wrong side of the law.
THE everyday hustle and bustle of Durban South communities went silent on the first day of the national Covid-19 lockdown on Friday, 27 March.While many have complied with the set rules and regulations, others have defiantly violated them, evidently finding themselves on the wrong side of the law.
Montclair police confirmed that seven people had been arrested for defying the lockdown rules in the early hours of Friday morning. Montclair SAPS spokesperson Captain Derek Vijiam said this type of action will be ongoing by all SAPS members in the area during the lockdown.
“We have been engaged in roadblocks every day during the lockdown from 4am. We will continue to stop vehicles and pedestrians and asking for confirmation that they are part of the essential services. If you need to go out to the shop or the pharmacy stay within your area. Go straight there and back home. We are taking this lockdown seriously and we expect the community we serve to do the same,” he said.
Ward 64 councillor, Gavin Hegter, thanked Montclair police for their efforts. “Not only did they make the first arrests of people disregarding the lockdown regulations but they have been out trying to educate the public. All our SAPS members would also like the opportunity to be safe at home with their families but they are out there protecting us from ourselves. Unfortunately we have so many people who are just not taking the lockdown seriously. Over the next few days, community members can expect to hear loud hailing in the area. This will be the department of public participation urging all to just stay at home,” he said.
In Wentworth, community members took to social media with warnings and complaints of defiance of public drinking and people roaming the streets during the first two days into the lockdown. Wentworth police conducted a roadblock on the early hours of Friday morning, 27 March along the M4 freeway northbound before the Jacobs/Quality Street on ramp. “The aim was to ensure that motorists were in compliance with the call made by our state president, Cyril Ramaphosa. The members were checked permits as well as the number of passengers who were being transported. We found that motorists were in compliance and that companies had provided employees with the required permits upon checking. Community members have also been in compliance and no arrests have been made as yet in the policing precinct,” said Wentworth police spokesperson, Captain Mbuso Gumede.
While train services have been suspended, taxis are allowed to transport essential service workers in the morning between 5am and 9am and in the afternoon between 4pm and 8pm. Although relatively quiet, the streets and shopping centres on the Bluff were still alive with residents still heading out to stock up on essentials.
As the number of positive cases continues to rise, Clairwood Hospital has been identified as one of the additional KZN hospitals prepared for Covid-19 admissions by the department of health, with more than 50 isolation beds.
Ward 32 PR councilor, Sharmaine Sewshanker, said that life is per normal at the Clairwood informal settlements, which already have restricted access to water and sanitation services. “Community members have not yet received sanitisers or anything that they have been promised by the eThekwini Municipality. It is not practical to expect people to practice good hygiene when they do not have the means to do so,” she said.
Sarah Watson from the department of Human Settlements confirmed that the department is working with the department of Water and Sanitation to identify the settlements in need of the soap distribution programme as well as additional taps and Jojo tanks. She said that this is a process and are working to the best of their ability to attend to each settlement in need, starting with the larger settlements and as the hygiene products become available to them.
The public is urged to remain indoors during the remainder of the lockdown in order flatten the curve of the life threatening coronavirus pandemic.
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