Lockdown clarity would keep nation on state's side

It is no surprise that tempers are fraying. It’s been six weeks of official lockdown and the reality of what we are going through is sinking in.

We need to be kinder to ourselves. It was never going to be easy. The worst thing we can do now is to turn on each other and destroy our unity, fragile democracy and our country. Humanity has never gone through this. Disappointment, anger, frustration – all these will be part of the journey we have to travel to get through this horrific time.

The mood is low.  On social media all sorts of dire scenarios are painted about where we are and where we are headed. Just last week we were being congratulated by the World Health Organisation and featured in international media as a great example of how to handle Covid-19. This week we are calling co-operative governance minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma names and branding President Cyril Ramaphosa weak.

It’s understandable that the mood is so low. Families have run out of money. Thousands are taking pay cuts or earning no money whatsoever. Hunger is at the door. Times are hard when National Treasury says their worst-case scenario shows seven million people losing their jobs. That is a catastrophe.

The mood can return to positivity. Here are seven steps that would help government keep the nation on its side.

• First, bring back clarity and certainty in how policy on lockdowns is made.  At the moment we are in an indefinite lockdown without any clear explanation why we are in it. When we started off we had a three-week lockdown. It was extended by two weeks. We were in lockdown to buy time to prepare for the spike in hospitalizations. The reasons for the extension were explained empathetically, patiently and lucidly by the president.

Now we are at the mercy of police minister Bheki Cele (who threatened at the weekend that cabinet would discuss taking us back to level 5). We have no idea how long this will last except to be told that it may depend on the level of infections and the readiness of the health sector to cope with the coronavirus cases. We need hard numbers, not vague statements. When will the health sector be ready and what is the meaning of “ready” – let's have number of beds, personnel and progress reports on how we are getting there. Health minister Zweli Mkhize has been phenomenal in releasing statistics on Covid-19 cases. He can keep doing this, too.

Mkhize and all ministers should by now have charts and a widely-distributed Powerpoint presentation showing the government’s real-time modelling for moving down to level 3 or back up to level 5. Be open, be clear – the country will follow you. Right now there is no certainty or clarity except for threats by Cele that if we go running we will be banned again. It’s not helpful for the government and it’s not helpful to the citizenry.

• Second, the ban on cigarettes and liquor sales are rooted in state paternalism and there is no linkage between them and building more hospitals and increasing the number of beds. Lift it – we are losing jobs, tax revenue and goodwill. Let the fight against hunger be Ramaphosa’s Waterloo, not cigarettes.
• Third, let the army distribute food parcels house to house in informal settlements or find an alternative method. Making people queue so politicians can do this is defeating social distancing protocols and is inefficient. A Human Sciences Research Council survey showing that 55% of the respondents who live in informal settlements, and about two-thirds of respondents living in townships, had no money for food is argument to forgo this queueing for a smarter, better solution.
• Fourth, lift the nonsensical ban on e-commerce. There is really no logic to the argument that I can walk around Woolworths spreading the virus, while far safer e-commerce transactions are banned. People lose respect for regulations that are contradictory.
• Fifth, lift the curfew. Why does the state need a curfew? There was no curfew for five weeks in the first iteration of the lockdown. Why go here? Curfews are for mini-dictatorships.
• The sixth measure the government should take is to do away with race-based regulations for giving assistance to distressed small businesses. A B&B owned by a white entrepreneur employs black workers. BEE is an imperative, yes, but right now let’s save businesses that create jobs.
• Finally, the government should be clear: lockdowns are for starving the coronavirus of the means to jump from one person to the next until we have enough beds for the critically ill. That’s our goal. Lockdown regulations are for this and this only, not to control or remake society.

Humanity is in trouble. The government needs to lead with certainty in getting us through this terrible time.