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South Africa has moved to Level 2 in the lockdown. The regulations of Level 2 permit the sale of liquor from 09:00 to 17:00 from Monday to Thursday, but you can only buy alcohol to drink in restaurants from 09:00 to 22:00 from Friday to Sunday. The regulations that still apply, irrespective of level, is that people are still not allowed to be in public places, or use public transport, or enter a public building or premises without wearing a face mask. But this was not the case for Daveyton (a township east of Gauteng) residents, who were found drinking, dancing and not observing any of the COVID-19 regulations.
On 5 September there was a big party that took place in Daveyton. “I was part of the crowd and experienced everything. I was at the well-known Chisa Nyama in Daveyton and it was packed. There were about 400 to 600 people outside, and about 150 people inside the Chisa Nyama. I did not see anyone wearing a mask. Social distancing was not observed and there were no sanitisers placed around. I think we might hear of many people who are infected by the virus in Daveyton, especially after that weekend,” said Bathabile Mpotu.
The South African Nation Defence Force (SANDF) also came. When they arrived, they found that people were not following the COVID-19 regulations. But instead of people putting masks on and observing social distancing because of the presence of the law-enforcers, people danced near the SANDF and took selfies and videos making fun of them. In response, the SANDF did nothing other than to park their cars and observe everything that was happening.
The risk of infection now under Level 2 becomes greater as more people are trying to return to their normal lives and more people are starting to move around. We cannot abandon the health precautions just because we have moved to Level 2 of the lockdown. The coronavirus is still here. We need to save lives, ourselves and the lives of others, so that the country can be healthy again.
This article was submitted on 7 September 2020. 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.
