Many of the people in Tembisa believe in making money from selling cooked food. Their marketplace is outside shopping complexes, taxi ranks etc. What is worrying now is that they defy lockdown rules and regulations but only remember them when they clash with law enforcement agents. I witnessed men cooking and selling mogodu just outside a shopping complex attracting many customers at the same time but not practicing social distancing. Ekurhuleni is one of the metros with many cases of the virus which makes it a hotspot of the pandemic, but I have realised that people only put on masks to be allowed into the mall but remove them as soon as they leave the complex.

Meanwhile, it is also worrying how those who are entrusted with distribution food parcels are helping themselves first before the people who are in real need of the food. This is even though we are in a situation where many people have lost their livelihoods and can no longer afford to fend themselves and their families. In Vusimuzi, the community registered to get food parcels, a list of names of people who registered was used to get food parcels.

On another note, these days, SAPS has been at the forefront ensuring that citizens adhere to rules and regulations of the lockdown. Before entry at the Tembisa police station, officers scan people to check their temperature and the officers record each person’s temperature, they have also implemented a no mask no entry principle at their premises whilst enforcing social distancing. I have witnessed the same at Spar Supermarket although they do not check temperature, but the principle of no mask no entry is enforced.