Scuffles and uncertainty as South Africa locks down

 “This morning, we wake South Africans up with sad news that we now have our first deaths resulting from Covid-19. These two deaths occurred in the Western Cape; one at a private hospital and the other at a public hospital,” Minister of Heath Dr Zweli Mkhize said on Friday morning.

South Africa heard this news just a few hours into the lockdown, and that the number of cases has surpassed the 1,000 case mark.

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases has said that there is local transmission and clustered and community transmission but that it has not yet reached the public health sector in a major way. This is according to two surveys they have conducted. Ferial Haffajee details what is known about the spread so far.

Gauteng continues to be the epicentre of the outbreak in South Africa with over 400 cases. The province’s Premier David Makhura has said he is ready to take “extraordinary measures” to curb the virus’ impact. Makhura said the province is especially vulnerable to Covid-19 because it is home to 20% of South Africa’s poor, it is a gateway for international travellers, is the most densely populated, but smallest province, and is an economic hub.

As the lockdown came into effect, some adjustments and clarifications were made.

Turns out that major retailers can offer home delivery of food, cleaning products, personal protective equipment and medical and hospital supplies. Home delivery is a necessity for people with disabilities or who have difficult leaving their house.

However, stores are struggling to keep up with demand – in some cases, the next available delivery slots are after the lockdown is due to end. Major chains like Pick n Pay and Woolworths say they are working on building capacity. Uber told Rebecca Davis that they are looking into whether or not drivers can deliver these goods.

 Meanwhile, some foreign-owned spaza shop owners have borne the brunt of confusion, and discrimination, around the lockdown rules. Immigrant-owned spaza shops in Port Elizabeth were closed by police this morning, only to be forced open again by residents. This forced opening and closing was repeated three times in one day.

Uncertainty also still swirls around the plans for how homeless people will move into temporary shelter for the lockdown. The Daily Maverick team looked into the provincial plans to protect the homeless from Covid-19.

Travel bans have kicked in and have spelt disaster, or more accurately detention, for some international passengers arriving at OR Tambo International Airport. Four travellers explained to Chanel Retief that they are being detained indefinitely for travelling on passports from high-risk countries, However, none of them have travelled to those countries recently. Even worse, they say the conditions they are being forced to live in are unhygienic.

While a few higher education institutions have said they will switch to remote learning once they reopen, it looks unlikely that schools will follow suit. Schools will have a catch-up plan to make up for the lost days, said Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga during a briefing on 26 March. The plan is not set in stone, but it might involve extending the school calendar and adding more school hours. Ayanda Mthethwa looks into how feasible e-learning is for schools.

Some mental health professionals in the public sector have spoken out about the absolute ban on alcohol for the duration of the lockdown. Forcing alcoholics to go without alcohol so suddenly and without support could kill them or lead to depression, suicide or an increase in violent behaviour. As Marianne Thamm writes, other countries have scaled back their total bans on alcohol after realising these repercussions.

It’s now clear that the Covid-19 pandemic is going to have effects that we’ll be dealing with for quite some time afterwards - not just in terms of public health, but also economically and perhaps also politically.

Who knew diamond mining was an essential service? Anglo American announced today that a few of its mines will continue to operate in South Africa but with far fewer staff. The National Union of Mineworkers has slammed them for this decision, saying the company does not care about the lives of its employees but more about profits at this time – “The decision to continue operating is reckless and inhuman”, the union told Ed Stoddard.

Our colleagues at Mail & Guardian have said they will most likely not be able to pay salaries next month if their income does not drastically improve. In the lead up to the lockdown, they lost the vast majority of their advertising revenue and their live events had to be cancelled. They need your help.

A group of researchers have estimated that the lockdown will cause South Africa to lose about R300-billion. They write: “Global pandemics don’t come cheap.”

The World Health Organisation has weighed in on South Africa’s decision to lockdown and its strategy. The unwanted impacts of a lockdown can be significant, said regional director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti. However she noted that South Africa has put in place measures to help the vulnerable. Importantly, she said there is still an opportunity for the spread to stop in Africa. Carien du Plessis reports on how countries can take advantage of this window.

Meanwhile, President Cyril Ramaphosa took the continent’s request for economic assistance straight to the G20. He reported that there is no definite decision or figure yet, but he said the G20 nations had backed him up – specifically Germany, France, Canada and Russia. He’ll be following up with a conference call, naturally. DM