Lockdown Journal - Day 20

My Lockdown Journal 2020 – Wednesday, Day 20:

Yesterday South Africans received the good news that the SA Reserve Bank has decided to cut the repo rate by one percentage point. This will go a long way to ease a lot of financial pressures brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, that’s where the good news ended.

It was not a good day for the city of Port Elizabeth. To think that COVID-19 is so powerful that it can - during lockdown - reach locked-up prisoners. A total of 78 inmates and officials in the Eastern Cape tested positive for COVID-19. The total includes inmates and an official at St Albans Correctional Centre in Port Elizabeth.

Nelson Mandela Bay has recorded its second death related to the global pandemic. The number of confirmed cases in the metro has risen to 51. More shocking news came after two Port Elizabeth shops were looted by residents. In Timothy Valley, the metro’s police dispersed looters, but they retaliated and injured a metro police officer. How does looting a spaza shop or grocery store benefit the community? It seems so senseless.

The looting reminded me of a Bob Marley song titled “Burnin’ and lootin’”. The lyrics include: “All that we got, it seems we have lost / We must have really paid the cost / Burnin' and a-lootin' tonight / Say we gonna burn and loot…”.

The coronavirus has shone a light on poverty and poor living conditions in the country’s poorest communities. We can only hope that government, business, community leaders, and councillors can work together in future to prevent something like this from happening again.

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Lockdown Journal - Day 19

My Lockdown Journal 2020 – Tuesday, Day 19:

Nowadays thousands of South Africans leave their homes to deliver essential services to millions in lockdown. Armed with hand sanitisers, gloves, masks, and wet wipes, they leave their families behind to defend a nation against an invisible enemy.

Unfortunately, there is a visible enemy left behind at home called, abuse. During the lockdown, many South Africans (women, men and children) are stuck at home with their abusers. According to the Gender-Based Violence Command Centre, more than 2 300 gender-based violence complaints were registered in the first five days of lockdown. One can only imagine how high the figures are by now.

I pray that the abusers acknowledge the trauma they are putting their loved ones through. I pray that they learn to detest their own behaviour and come to true repentance. I pray that God keep us all safe in our relationships. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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