LOCKDOWN JOURNAL - DAY 16

My Lockdown Journal 2020 – Saturday, Day 16:

Today is day 16 of #LockdownSA2020. A few weeks ago, we were stuck to our mobile touch screen devices, but the coronavirus has made most of us aware of every touchable surface that could transmit the coronavirus. Isn’t it ironic? The coronavirus has irreversibly changed our mindset when it comes to personal hygiene and healthcare.

I live 10 minutes from the airport, and I haven’t seen or heard a plane for the last two weeks! The skies are empty, clean (no air pollution) and it is silent. Okay, now and then I do see birds gracing the sky above my house. It made me think about a lot of stuff though.

I sat with my wife in our backyard thinking about another silence; gunshots from the reckless hands of gangsters. There are no dead bodies on the streets of Port Elizabeth’s northern areas. This is in stark contrast to a year ago when bodies have been piling up at a Port Elizabeth mortuary. A community leader referred to the gang-related violence in the northern areas as “self-inflicted genocide”. Where are the gangsters?

The deployment of the army before lockdown couldn’t stop the gang-related violence, but the lockdown regulations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, have stemmed the senseless killings. I do have a question: Do parents and families now have the best opportunity to talk to their children and siblings about their gangster ways? In fact, I have another question: Is this not the best time for every gangster to rethink their ways? I am not a counsellor or psychologist, but I am sure there is some truth to these questions. This might sound ironic and even dark, but a lot of lives are being saved because of the lockdown regulations. I am not trying to be controversial, but is this perhaps a solution for the future? To put communities on lockdown on weekends when gang-related killings and violence are at its highest? I know it’s not that simple. Research related to underlying factors for gangsterism are still lacking. However, I know one thing for sure; the coronavirus has irrevocably changed the world in many ways.

Many of us wish to turn back the clock to retreat to how life was before the pandemic forced us into lockdown. Many of us probably lie awake at night wondering what the future holds for us and our children in a post coronavirus era. Whether life as we knew it returns to "normal" or not, I believe there is an upside; we as individuals will be more resilient after the lockdown experience. We as South Africans are wired for survival. We will get through this!

#LockdownJournal
#COVID19SouthAfrica
#21DayLockdownSA