Download PDFOn 30 September, President Ramaphosa announced the move to Level 1 Lockdown, meaning much more people can gather together, among other things. It seems have become a norm for everyone that many more people continue to get infected with COVID-19 daily. People are no longer as scared of the virus as before, and the South African state’s attitude is just contributing to the number of people who are not scared of the virus or who do not believe that the virus exists.
We have been on and off of stricter lockdown rules to decrease the rate of infections but that did not seem to help. Everyday there are over a thousand new COVID-19 cases in South Africa.
According to Theodora, an Early Childhood Development teacher in Kliptown, “the only way these cases will decrease is when everyone has a stable income and proper housing, because I think that is where the problem is”. She also said that it’s working class communities that are getting infected everyday by the virus due to the living conditions that they endure. “If the government had made provision for the working class before, while the virus was still in other countries, things would have been must better now,” said Theodora.
“People can see that the government doesn’t care about the working class and they should not rely on them. I understand that we have to hustle. But, why can’t we hustle and be safe at the same time, because that’s what I have been doing,” said Leeroy, a hustler from Kliptown. Leeroy assists shoppers with their groceries to their car, taxi or home.
He said that he doesn’t believe that people’s living conditions are the only key factor. According to Leeroy it’s the fact that people choose whether to be safe or not. He also said that often people he interacted didn’t want to wear their masks and he has had small altercations with them. “It seems that people have a ‘don’t care’ attitude towards the virus and there [seems to be] no hope for South Africa due to people’s living conditions and behaviour”, he concluded.
This article was submitted on 15 September 2021, with additional information later added by Karibu! staff. You may republish this article, so long as you credit the authors and Karibu! Online (www.Karibu.org.za), and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article (https://karibu.org.za/covid-19-cases-rising-everyday/).
