Most play by the rules, for others just another day

 Day one of the national coronavirus lockdown passed without a major incident in the Eastern Cape, though minibus taxi passengers returning home from other provinces might not be inclined to agree.

Most residents in the province's cities and towns adhered to the government's instruction to stay home and practise social distancing. Urban areas that normally teem with vehicles and foot traffic were more reminiscent of ghost towns on Friday, the first day of the 21-day national lockdown.

The army was present in parts of the province but not to maximum strength as soldiers are still due to arrive in some areas.

There was some cause for concern however.

While roadblocks manned by law enforcement agencies  were in evidence throughout East London, people in high-density Duncan Village were going about their business as if it were any other day, walking and washing their cars in the streets.

When DispatchLIVE visited the township just before 11am, not a single police vehicle could be seen as people walked in the streets.

Premier Oscar Mabuyane said people had been obeying the lockdown.

“We've seen some people outside, some had different reasons relating to labour. Another thing we had was the issue of people who travelled overnight from Gauteng and the Western Cape. They arrived in towns this morning and needed to take transport to their rural homes. From Saturday, things will be clearer,” Mabuyane said.  

There were moments of frustration in Mthatha as 100 people returning from the Western Cape were forced to walk to the CBD because the minibus taxis that brought them back to the province were stopped at a roadblock and prevented from entering.

Police and the army later allowed them to walk to the town and buy groceries and medication.

Some passengers were to take connecting taxis to Elliotdale, Mqanduli, Qumbu, Mount Frere, Libode and Tsolo but were made to wait until 4pm before they could depart.  

Passengers complained that they had experienced no such problems at any town on their journey from the Western Cape to Mthatha.

They were worried they might have contracted an infection along the way, however.

Schoolteacher Xolisa  Faniso, who works in Cape Town and was going home  to Mqanduli, said she had already tested negative for the coronavirus.

“But I was in a taxi from Cape Town to Mthatha and I am not sure if all of us are healthy. I appreciate that Mthatha and Eastern Cape are vigilant and that we have been inconvenienced by this [roadblock], but we do not have nine lives like cats. We live once and we die forever,'' she said.

Thabiso Maqhekeza, who was travelling to Ngqeleni, said he had come back to the province to attend a funeral.

''But if I die, I'd rather die in my homeland than in the foreign soil of the Western Cape,''he  said.

​Before 8am, there were few police and soldiers visible on the streets of Mthatha, but this changed after 9am. 

Suddenly usually busy streets were cordoned off and pedestrians and shoppers closely monitored.

OR Tambo mayor Thokozile Sokanyile said: ''This is to save our lives. The community members must assist in this and voluntarily stay at home and not expect to be forced to do that.”

Provincial transport department spokesperson Unathi Binqose said roadblocks were mainly conducted overnight. He was not at liberty to share the roadblock plans as that would nullify the intention.

“But our officers will remain on the ground to keep an eye on traffic movement, particularly for the essential service workers,” he said.

It was eerily quiet in Mdantsane and other parts of East London.

A police vehicle was parked at Mdantsane's Qumza highway taxi rank, with four policemen in gloves and masks monitoring proceedings.

The taxi rank had a few people milling about, but nothing close to the usual hustle and bustle of a Friday.

In the East London CBD, hundreds of shoppers queued outside the Spar in Buffalo Street.

Some did not adhere to the suggested two-metre distance, while others covered their mouths and noses with doeks and masks.

But the rest of Oxford Street was quiet, with police on the scene.

A solider at the Buffalo Volunteer Rifles, a light infantry unit situated next to the East London high court, said they had heard that soldiers from an unnamed location would be joining them in patrols from Friday night.

Most streets in Southernwood, arguably one of the busiest places in East London, were nearly empty.

Residents were sitting on their balconies and verandas, busy with their cellphones.

A few spaza shops were open and serving residents, some of whom left the shops with items such as bread, eggs and soft drinks.

Diane Irsalc was sitting on her balcony with a neighbour. She told the Dispatch that the lockdown was a serious matter that she did not take lightly.

“I see people moving up and down and I am worried. I have been listening to the radio and watching news about the virus development. People are scared of this thing. It's serious and I will stay put and practise what the president said we should do,” Irsalc said.

A nurse who was walking to work said those in his profession were most at risk of being infected with the virus.

“Our fears are high at this time. The problem I am encountering now is that transport to work is very scarce. The mask and everything we use are not that safe as well.”