The Monitor (Botswana)

Clubs And Entertainm­ent Spots Reopening: A Trailer

- (For comments, feedback and insults email inkspills1­969@gmail.com)

We were fed a preview of what will happen as soon as nightclubs and entertainm­ent business gets into the groove by two popular joints, one in CBD and the other in Phase 4.

As Dr Masupu’s Covid map changed colour to red, green and yellow from the dreaded white, some in the capital city mistook, misunderst­ood, misinterpr­eted that to mean the poison has finally been drained.

Non-Covid protocol observing crowds gathered at these two joints without masks, no social distancing and partied the night away. It was scary to watch. It was like watching a man willingly stuff himself into a wood chipper.

Now most areas on the hallowed map had changed colour except Greater Gaborone (where this sinning took place) which remained a cool white meaning it was still deep in the woods. GC is allegedly blessed with the best brains in the country (I know folks from Ghetto might dispute this) that is why you find GC has four flyovers and other towns have only one at the most.

I am not even counting the Mahalapye one as that is at best a spoof of a flyover. As the Covid-be-effed flight took off the excited crowd complete with top-of-table dancers the itchy-fingered clicked away and shared the evidence with the world. How the map was grossly misinterpr­eted is an embarrassm­ent right at the level of vaccines arriving without paperwork. The city fathers must be working round the clock to paper the fissures and restore sanity in a city now struggling with bad press.

Obviously it is not advisable to use the deputy mayor’s tactics of inviting transgress­ors to a fighting match like he did with the latest headline-hogging pastor. There will be too many people to fight! Unsurprisi­ngly the CBD joint followed the public outcry with an apology.

An apology is usually the anesthetic that businesses use to dull the pain of stupidity and poor judgement. With click bait titles like ‘Management Regrets…..’ the spindoctor­s from CBD got to work and somehow successful­ly manage to push themselves into the quicksand of irresponsi­ble corporate citizens and amp public fury a notch higher. The apology was hollower than Zuma’s reasons for not attending the Zondo commission hearing. Phase 4 joint doesn’t seem to operate that way.

They will eat the public and press jabs without flinching until the public punches itself out and forget the whole saga. As the Minister of Bars and Nightclubs announced that at the end of the month after the end of the SoE nightclubs will be opened you could discern that a heavy pall hung over the poor man.

Throughout the announceme­nt you could tell that he was worried about the infraction­s that just obtained at the two joints.

The current minister has been accused of being slow to unban alcohol and open entertainm­ent spots but the trailer, courtesy of the two joints, must have made it that much harder to reopen.

Had there been no economy nudges we might well have kissed that good bye. Every one of us must somehow figure out how they will deal with their excitement when the reopening happens.

Everyone must keep their inner crazy streaks in check. Everyone must resist the urge to dance on top of tables.

We just cannot afford to repaint the map white again. The white map has caused political feuds between our political leaders. We just cannot afford that anymore.

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