Gauteng Covid-19 SOS: province pleads for hard lockdown regulations to curb surge

“We must put up regulations which we will be able to enforce. One thing that is a problem is people gathering in crowds, that is the first one. So parties, churches, funerals, protests, weddings and all social gatherings are causing a problem.

“Restricting numbers assists us in curbing infection because you would rather deal with 20 people that you must do tracing for, and not only that but the infection rate as well. Remember, we are more or less on one person infecting three other people.

“So 50 people means you already have a minimum of 150 people for tracing and the possibility of infections spreading,” he said.

Co-operative governance & traditional affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma would not say if the national cabinet would approve Gauteng’s proposals.

“Let’s wait until they come and we’ll hear what they have to say . when they come we’ll listen to them,” she told the Sunday Times yesterday.

She would also not say if the cabinet had discussed a differentiated lockdown for hotspots.

Masuku revealed that the Gauteng government is in a frantic race against time to set up life-saving infrastructure.

He said the government has roped in the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), mainly to build field hospitals with thousands of beds.

This week Ramaphosa informed parliament that he will be extending the deployment of 20,000 soldiers to assist in enforcing Covid-19 regulations. This is in stark contrast to the deployment of 76,000, which ended last week on Friday.

Gauteng is not the only province calling on the SANDF. This week Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane also announced that he had sent an SOS to Ramaphosa.

Gauteng has a shortfall of 1,501 beds in the medium term and almost 8,000 for the period from the end of July to September, according to a presentation made public on Thursday.

Yesterday the provincial cabinet met to give departments a chance to table their needs, which will be documented and packaged as a recommendation to the president, who chairs the NCCC, which will have the final say.

On Thursday premier David Makhura was at pains to emphasise that protest actions are causing cluster outbreaks. He also joined Ramaphosa in lamenting how the abuse of alcohol is causing avoidable traumas, reducing the availability of beds.

Masuku said: “We are going into this discussion now on lockdowns with a better understanding of what they are and how they work, given the experience we have had over the past few months. We’re not going into it blindly, we know the high-impact areas and how we will enforce restrictions in those areas.”

He said the exact model of lockdown is still being discussed but it will see a total shutdown for a specified time in order to flatten the curve.

He said this will also bring about a sense of “predictability”.

The national government has yet to table plans for any differentiated approach of
localised restrictions for hotspots.

The Western Cape – which until recently was the epicentre of the country’s Covid-19 pandemic – has reportedly registered up to 1,662 cases per 100,000 people.

Gauteng could soon overtake Western Cape as the epicentre as it began recording the highest number of active cases.

Masuku said modelled projections for Gauteng have been based on the hard lockdown of the first few months.

Upon considering the behaviour of people coupled with expanded economic activity, it became clear that the peak could arrive a month earlier than originally expected.