Though President Cyril Ramaphosa is yet to decide whether the 21-day lockdown will be extended but South Africans are hungry, angry and frustrated and the lockdown is breaking down gradually.
In Diepsloot, an informal settlement in northern Johannesburg with about 300,000 people – activities have returned to normal. The breakdown of the lockdown in Diepsloot climaxed when shop owners were allowed to sell, so residents don’t need to travel too far to buy groceries.
The same fate befell Olievenhoutbosch – a township in Centurion, as residents in the area have normalised activities.
Some residents of Setjwetla informal settlement in Alexandra, Johannesburg are said to be ready to ignore the government’s efforts to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic from spreading in the area.
The highly congested area is where a resident who tested positive was from. Those who settled close to the man said that there was no way they could test positive for the deadly virus.
The neighbours claimed they were all negative except for one.
However, the everybody in Mzanzi is waiting on President Ramaphosa anxiously.
Hannan Dube from Randburg says the lockdown makes her feel as if she was in the aprtheid days where movements were restricted and she can’t wait to be free. She appeals to the government to consider the poor in their decisions.
Mike Akinboyede, a Nigerian business man in Randbug says the lockdown is well observed in Randburg but he also wants it to be called off and other strategies explored to the spread of coronavirus.
There are about 1,845 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in South Africa with 18 deaths and the curve seems to be flatening.
