Roadblocks not stopping travellers

Ilive in Parys, the B&Bs, shops and restaurants have been decimated during the lockdown. Many people in the town are struggling to get by. I had a guesthouse which is now history.

As you’ll probably know, weekend visitors to the town were a major source of income for many people.

Over the last few weekends, Sunday visitors have been flooding to Parys.

The shop and restaurant owners are jumping for joy as the warmer weather brought them out in droves, but...

The majority of visitors are from Johannesburg (out of province, yet inter-provincial leisure is still banned).

I spoke to a few visitors to our town and asked which route they took?

Without exception they told me either of the two main routes – The N1 or the R59. And what about the police and army roadblocks? They just waved them through.

So, it seems even the government’s foot soldiers to control the spread have lost interest.

Even a major Sandton motorcycle dealer advertised a breakfast run to Parys on their website.

The company in question prides themselves on social responsibly. Their advertisement makes a mockery of that claim.

So, when Ramaphosa says “we mustn’t let our guard down”, who is he talking to? It doesn’t seem to be the general public and from what I’ve seen, it doesn’t include those enforcing the lockdown.

It looks like smoke and mirrors, make the moves and say the right things and at the next election, your minions will think you did a good job.

Malcolm Moorhouse