President Cyril Ramaphosa has taken to Twitter to call on South Africans to remain vigilant and continue abiding by the rules inspire of the challenges presented by the lockdown.
In his weekly statement he acknowledged the fault line in society that reveals how grinding poverty, inequality and unemployment is tearing communities apart.
“Many countries around the world have imposed coronavirus lockdowns with a view to saving the lives of their citizens. We have done the same in our country, but our lockdown has revealed a very sad fault line in our society that reveals how grinding poverty, inequality and unemployment is tearing the fabric of our communities apart,” reads his statement.
Ramaphosa further said that there can be no greater anguish than that of a parent whose children cry out to them for food, but they have none to give.
“There can be no greater injustice than a society where some live in comfort and plenty, while others struggle at the margins to survive with little or nothing at all,” he added.
The president stated that these are the residual effects of a fractured and unequal past but also a symptom of a fundamental failing in our post-apartheid society.
“The nationwide lockdown in response to the coronavirus has gravely exarcerbated a long-standing problem,” Ramaphosa added.
He also raised a grave concern about distressing images of desperate people clamouring for food parcels at distribution centres and of community protests against food shortages.
The president acknowledges the shortfalls from government’s side that occurred by imposing a nationwide lockdown at very short notice, saying it presented several challenges. However, he is confident that the lockdown was indeed necessary.
“We ultimately chose to err on the side of caution. And as the presentation by the Ministry of Health last week indicated, enforcing a lockdown at the time we did has slowed down the rate of infection and, more importantly, bought us time to prepare for a probable surge in infections in the coming weeks and months,” he added