Mass exodus out of Gauteng draws fire
MOTORISTS rushing to beat the shutdown were seen making a mass exodus out of Gauteng, mostly headed towards Limpopo, raising concerns about them possibly spreading the coronavirus to less-infected areas.
It is suspected that those making the great trek were from Limpopo and Mpumalanga, keen to join their families for the nationwide shutdown commencing at midnight tomorrow. The N1 north was gridlocked, resulting in a social media storm with most slamming the movement to other areas as irresponsible.
Department of Transport spokesperson Ayanda Allie Paine said she had not been made aware of the rush out of Gauteng.
“There is no abnormal traffic of people leaving on the N1,” she said, despite the N1 North trending all day.
Gauteng government spokesperson Thabo Masebe, however, said the government was discouraging people from leaving the province ahead of the lockdown period.
“It is better if everyone remains in the province (Gauteng) so that those requiring care and treatment can be assisted here,” he said.
Masebe added that Premier David Makhura would talk about this in a media briefing today.
Twitter users hit out at those who decided to pack and flee Gauteng as “selfish” for not thinking about the people who reside in the rural areas.
Sisulu said that government had also put in place plans to distribute hygiene equipment and washing facilities to poor communities and public areas, including taxi and bus ranks.
Mkhize said that the country’s congested public transport system, including taxis and trains, was the biggest concern of the government as about 16 million South Africans used it daily to commute and risked contracting the infectious global virus.
“If the infection were to be spreading there it could it could be spreading from one person to a number of people who cannot be traced as contacts because they do not know each other and by the time the infection is detected, a number of people would be exposed, so that is the courage that the president’s leadership has been able to give to us, that we allow that space for freezing of movement of the virus,” he said.
Mkhize said the grand strategy during the lockdown would include taking all those infected for treatment and isolation to ensure they did not infect other people.
He indicated that 75% of those infected by the virus had a recent history of having travelled to high-risk countries while a certain portion of the remaining 25% had a direct link and contact with them.
He said the focus would then be on dealing with sporadic cases of transmission, which had a potential to spread and cause strain on the healthcare system if not contained.
“These are instances where someone is found to be positive but they cannot point out anyone that they would say they know for a fact was abroad,” he said.
The informal sector, which has been excluded from the stimulus economic measures announced to boost businesses, was set to be severely hit by the lockdown.
Small Business Development Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni would be assisted through a special funding mechanism which was yet to be developed.