Police Minister Bheki Cele has revealed that one of the country’s densely populated townships, Alexandra, was among the places where citizens did not comply with regulations of the lockdown over the Covid-19 global pandemic.
Briefing the media after the first day of the lockdown, Cele and his counterpart, Trade and Industry Minister Ebrahim Patel, conceded that the long queues at shopping malls emerged as one of the biggest problems undermining social distancing – a key regulation to contain the spread of the virus.
This came as the number of coronavirus cases surged to 1170, which was an increase of 243 from the 927 cases reported by Health Minister on Thursday.
The country’s first two deaths due to the virus were reported today in the Western Cape.
Cele said overall the first day of the lockdown was a success, warning that those who are not complying were going to face the wrath of the law.
The police minister said 55 people had been arrested on the first day, mostly in Gauteng (20), with Alexandra accounting for six arrests. About 172 roadblocks were manned by 24 000 men and women in the blue.
“We had a goodnight. We had a success. Many South Africans had a goodwill,” he said.
“If you don’t join us, we will pull you to join us,” he added, also noting that the police were targeting those who go to malls to hang around.
Patel said they were refining the regulations to help curb the assembly of large numbers of people outside and inside shops to buy food.
Transport Minister, Fikile Mbalula, also conceded that there were problems with long queues of people waiting for taxis.
