We are losing the Covid-19 battle

Early in the coronavirus crisis, the ANC’s ministers and experts basked in the attention they were getting as infections and deaths stayed well below international levels. The lockdown, it seemed, was working. What a difference three months makes. This week, in his national televised imbizo – in which he took questions from citizens – President Cyril Ramaphosa looked tired, even defeated.

And in a subtle way, the government has tried to move the communication message away from them to us – from “we are using the lockdown period to prepare our medical system so that it is not overwhelmed”, to “it is your responsibility to keep yourselves safe”.

Now that we are about to be swamped by the Covid-19 tsunami, any smugness or complacency which was present earlier in government ranks – where they dreamed of being lionised globally for doing so well – has vanished, to be replaced by a redirection of blame for the unfolding catastrophe on to citizens.

It must be said that people’s poor adherence to the safety protocols for fighting the virus – frequent hand-washing, social distancing and wearing of face masks in public – is definitely responsible for the current surge in Gauteng. But we have to wonder: how much of that was brought about through frustrations which built up during the lockdown?

Not only were people forced to give up their means of earning an income with the draconian shuttering of the economy, they also found their normal avenues for letting off steam cut off, be those cigarettes, booze or just face-to-face contact with others.

In addition, the vast majority of people couldn’t stick to the safety protocols because they live in townships and squatter camps and ride in crowded taxis every day because they have to work to stay alive.

No wonder Ramaphosa looked defeated. We are losing this battle.