There is a principle of science, which I learnt at high school, called Newton’s First Law of Motion. In layman’s terms it means that a body at rest remains at rest, or, if in motion, remains in motion at a constant velocity unless acted on by a net external force.
Nothing that is moving or at a standstill can simply move without a force to effect an imbalance. How I wish our government could apply this principle in its plans and programmes in fighting the spread of Covid-19. President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on January 11 that government will maintain the adjusted level 3 lockdown as expected, citing an exponential rise in daily infections.
This means that the alcohol ban remains unchanged and gatherings are still prohibited. Ramaphosa further reiterated government’s efforts to get a vaccine as quickly as possible in order to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
The vaccine is now the only weapon left in government's arsenal to fight the spread of Covid-19 as all its previous efforts have vividly failed. On January 7, the country recorded its worst daily infection rate, with 21,980 cases and 616 deaths. In his address Ramaphosa said that since New Year’s Day, 190,000 infections were recorded. Already in 2021, the country has registered 4,600 deaths.
Anyone can see that whatever the government is doing is not working, even if the citizens have to shoulder a portion of the blame. If I were to use Newton’s First Law of Motion, all the efforts, such as the lockdown, have failed to effect an imbalance in the fight against Covid-19.Then, where did the government lose the plot?
It has been easy for premiers and minister to hold media briefings and get maximum coverage during the pandemic. Regulations have tightened, relaxed and tightened again, leaving certain sectors of the economy on its knees. But one common thread has been obvious in the government’s failure - its lethargy in implementing the regulations.
A simple example, Ramaphosa announced on December 28 that churches should not hold gatherings. Since that day, a big church along Plein Street in the Johannesburg inner city has been opened. They hold morning prayers every working day. This is the busiest street in town. Police vehicles pass by every day, so do Johannesburg Metro cops.
None of them have the courage to go in and stop the church from holding services.
Another issue government has been lamenting is the way people conduct funerals and identified them as super-spreaders of the virus. The question is, what is stopping the government to assign a police officer and a municipal official to every funeral during lockdown?
Someone will say there are too many people dying; therefore the police force will be stretched. I disagree. Funerals have been taking place every day of the week since the Covid-19 pandemic hit us. Surely, a certain number of police personnel or municipal officials could be set aside to monitor how funerals are held. It is the same thing as the daily protests in Gauteng where police are able to respond. It is that simple.
Have an official representing law enforcement at the funeral service to ensure that there are no more than 50 people in attendance. Another group of officials could be stationed at the cemetery permanently to ensure compliance. It is not in the culture of people, particularly Africans, to send mourners away just because 50 is the maximum attendance requirement.
Our government should know that. Only the presence of someone representing the state can help the situation. In that way, people will have no choice but to comply. For government to complain and cry as if it is helpless is unacceptable. Another issue is big taxi ranks. In Gauteng, taxi ranks, particularly with large volumes of people on a daily basis, have to be treated differently.
Taxi ranks such as Bara, Bree, Noord, Wanderers, Germiston and Marabastad in Pretoria cannot be left on their own if we are serious about fighting the coronavirus. Taxi associations are infamous for not following rules; it would be naïve of our government to expect them to monitor compliance by themselves.
Several programmes have been launched in Gauteng for the taxi industry. Among these were the supply of water for washing hands and ensuring that windows are open when taxis are operating at full capacity. None of these have yielded results. A simple solution that can change the current state of motion would be to open a permanent Covid-19 prevention facility at each of the big taxi ranks staffed with health workers and police to ensure that people wear masks and sanitise.
Till today, social distancing is not applied at taxi ranks. The same Covid-19 prevention facility could offer testing for free to members of the public. Several countries have adopted random testing of people in transport corridors. People simply carry some form of identification, leave their details with health workers, test and they are informed after 48 hours of their Covid-19 test results.
Testing more people removes those who have the virus from commuting and spreading it further. The Gauteng provincial government used this method in the first week of January and it worked. People were tested at tollgates and were able to know their status. But premier David Makhura indicated that this initiative could only last for a week. It is expensive, obviously, but effective.
The reality we face is that our current state of motion cannot change if our government does not change the way it does things. So when the country reaches its peak of the second wave some time in February, as medical experts predict, we should ask ourselves what force can help us turn the tide against Covid-19; the answer is simply enforcement.
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