Is another lockdown extension on the card?

It is three weeks since South Africa began a nationwide lockdown, a measure put in place to control spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country.

Two weeks into the lockdown, on April 9th, President Ramaphosa announced a two—week extension to the on-going 21 days. Many South Africans have called this phase 2 of the lockdown.

Today 16 April makes it third week of the initial 21 days, and the National Coronavirus Command Council came out to address the nation in a press briefing.

At the end of the press briefing, led by Minister of Corporate Governance and Traditional Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the big question on the minds and lips of many South Africans is;

Is another lockdown extension on the card?

Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma may have the answers.

“Lockdown will be phased out gradually. For now, it ends on 30 April, but even if it ends on the 30th of April, you can’t just open the floodgates in one day,” said Minister Dlamini-Zuma at the briefing.

Mark her words.

‘Phase out.’ What does that mean? South Africans ask. ‘We are already in phase two. Shall we expect phase 3?’

Not quiet.

Minister Dlamini-Zuma said that “when we do stop the lockdown, we cannot do it abruptly – that today it’s complete lockdown and tomorrow open completely.”

You hear it. Lockdown will be stopped, but it won’t be open completely. It won’t be abrupt.

Does this make April 31 feasible to end lockdown? Well, you can figure that.

“There must be an orderly way of easing the lockdown.”

That is another keyword. Easing out. How do you ease out?

The Minister did not mention dates but areas of easing out. She talked about ‘industries [having to] slowly come on stream,’ perhaps starting with mining which has been considered essential service to the economy.

“We have to phase in, so that there is an orderly move towards normality,” the Minister explained.

Yes, orderly and slowly is now the new normal.

“Probably each week we are going to be announcing which areas are going to be opened, incrementally, and the conditions of those openings,” Minister further explained.

In other words, the government wants to open the economy just like many other countries, but they are also cautious as the World Health Organisation warns countries not to open too soon to afford a relapse to further spread of coronavirus.

To this, Minister Dlamini-Zuma assured that many of the lockdown regulations would remain in place for a very long time to avoid losing gains made in the fight against coronavirus.

Many countries like Italy, Germany and Spain are gradually winding up their lockdown measures in order to save their economies from total collapse. Perhaps, the same consideration is in the mind of the South African government.

As it is, South Africa like US and other countries face two-pronged problems regarding lockdown; to extend or to keep the status quo; the health of the economy and the health of the people.

Simply put, lockdown will surely come to an end, but as the minister said, it will likely be an ‘orderly’ and ‘slowly’ easing out and phasing in, not completely, but abrupt.

Whatever may be the case, in the words of Minister Dlamini, a ‘move towards normality’ is a long walk to freedom.

South Africans can take solace in the promised relaxation of lockdown regulations.

However, this does not include alcohol and beer. Yet, as more industries come into the stream and open, more people can go to work and some excitement will return to our lives, if not our streets.

Whatever the case may be, we must all bear in mind, borrowing the word of the British poet , William Wordsworth- coronavirus (not the world) ‘is still too much with us.’