If the year 2020 was to be summarised using riddles, proverbs or sayings, one of these would be mpfundla u tika loko ufika kaya, loosely translated a hare gets heavier as you reach home. The Tsonga people use this proverb after a long day of hunting in the bush with the sole purpose of bringing the hare home. It is believed that as the hunters approach their homesteads, the hare starts to get heavier. The pain of hunting for almost the whole day cannot be compared to the anxiety of getting home to prepare the meat. This hare proverb taught us a lot about our inability to remain tenacious when undesirable events occur in our midst.
When President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the lockdown in March, we were confounded as such type of intervention had never happened in our country as we found ourselves imprisoned in our own homes to curb the spread of coronavirus. Our everyday routine was changed, life became hard as we got shocked by daily infection statistics.
During harder lockdown phases, we were all fearful of being be swept away by the virus. We became obedient to the lockdown regulations; santising and wearing masks. Apart from a few cases of misbehaviour, we were mostly law abiding citizens as we heeded the lockdown regulations. Our good behaviour cajoled the head of the country to move us to level 1 a month ago.
At that time we were on our way to eliminate the virus. The hare was becoming heavier as we were almost home (to beat the virus). Now all that has changed; it's misbehaviour everywhere you go. The guard has dropped, as one sees when entering the malls. Now we hardly see sanitiser stands at the entrances. What happened to people who were assigned to be compliance officers? Have we become so complacent with this virus that we will end up being victims of our own ignorance?
Medical experts predict the second wave of Covid-19 is likely to occur. To some of us it will be hard to imagine life without alcohol repeating itself.
It is such thoughts that make me wish to see the soldiers return to monitor movement at the malls, streets and other places where people congregate in big numbers. It's clear we have abandoned our responsbility to hold off the virus. Reports say the numbers are rising again. The worst that can happen to us as a nation is people dying by their thousands, and the economy shutting down with the announcement of a higher level of the lockdown.
We we nearly conquerors but like a hunter nearing his home with the hare, the issue of the pandemic is becoming heavy again – this time as we step closer to the festive season. The period of joy for our nation might turn sour.
• Mogotlane is a social commentator
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