Mzansi went into lockdown exactly on Friday, March, 27, 2020 in a bid to curb the spread of covid-19. From today I am going to share some reflections and thoughts from my fellow writers who are monitoring the 21-days lockdown policy.





Riba Cross, Limpopo; Today marks exactly 14-days since lockdown was imposed on us. From there all the fun, noise and violence associated with my village ceased immediately.  Riba Cross is usually lit during this time of the year, especially when it’s Good Friday. People come to play and they play really big and hard until the wee hours of the morning. Two popular taverns just a street away from my house, Evergreen liquor Rest and Janette tavern usually  remain opened until midnight and booze flow out of this taverns like Tubatse river after a heavy rainfall. The unstoppable sounds of guns that fire this village, housebreaking, theft and muggings that have turned Riba Cross into a notorious and no-go zone have all disappeared like smoke.



This days all I hear and get from people around is when Ramaphosa ending this crazy lockdown. There is no more booze and cigarettes on the streets of Riba Cross village. Evergreen liquor rest is closed, it closed immediately after the lockdown came into action, Janette’s tavern on the road to Ga-Riba did try to remain open, but after few days it closed. I’m not sure if one can still buy booze backdoor from both this taverns but on the front they have all shut their doors. Bo-my friend (a name given to those Somalis, Ethiopians and Indians trading in the villages and townships) also tried to close their shops, but I see them operating this days. I don’t know why but I guess maybe someone told them that Mme.Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (minister of Local government and traditional affairs) went easy on them. As for smokers and drunkards Ntate Bheki Cele went for the jugular on them (even thou Cele act all bossy and bullish). These days I am undated with questions from friends and family wanting to know if the lockdown is going to be extended.



The answer is let’s wait and see, but it’s possible it might.



The is little visibility of Police in Riba Cross but when they finally show-up, this guys are always aggressive, bully and chase everyone around without bothering to ask where they’re going. Just yesterday (Wednesday, April, 08) I saw two police vans with police wearing what look like face masks chasing evry boy and girl on the streets- from Lehlaba corner all the way up close to the school, they caught one boy and shoved inside the back of their van. They proceeded to drive towards Ga-Riba road where they did the same thing, chasing everybody around. I think our police are taking this lockdown hard or they enjoy being a bunch of bullies in the name of enforcing regulations. As for the soldiers I’ve never seen them around the village. I guess they’re doing their thing in town.


Overall Riba Cross is further up with the lockdown and can’t wait for it to end. But most of them are seen staying in their yards and that’s what matters the most.

Lockdown: Not yet decided to unlock South Africa from 21-days lockdown.

South Africans, particularly those living in the rural villages are not happy with the current lockdown as mostly feel left-out of most government services, and they are betting on President Cyril Ramaphosa not to extend the current 21-days beyond what it is now. Thou the president has not yet made that decision to extend the lockdown but all signs show a glaring possibility of an extended lockdown happening.  

All my news feeds as well as a reliable number of sources on my radar  have informed this writer that South Africans, including those in Tubatse (Burgersfort) should brace themselves of a possibility of an extended lockdown, this because government has not yet gotten the grip of the virus and its movement patterns. My sources tell me that, government has not yet received any scientific assessment nor any tangible report that indicate whether government the government’s lockdown and its regulations are yielding any fruits. So without this evidence backed research, it will be impossible for the president to neither take nor make any decision regarding the lockdown and its effectiveness.

This happens while our district, Sekhukhune continues to report no sign of the Coronavirus (SARS-Covid-19) anywhere. In Limpopo province as a whole Sekhukhune District including Tubatse in particular, we are the only area where the is no clear confirmed case of coronavirus. Other districts have reported more than 2 confirmed cases of the virus. There are currently 1 749 confirmed infections across South Africa with Gauteng province still leading with more confirmed cases up until today.

Government continue to encourage all of us to adhere to the lockdown regulations until president obtain those scientific assessment reports and pronounce otherwise. According to News24, President Cyril Ramaphosa said, government will receive the report in few days’ time. Today marks 13^th day of the lockdown, an increase of 63 confirmed infections and 13 confirmed deaths from yesterday.

“This is a serious, serious disease, as South Africans we must also take it seriously” said Ramaphosa. The 21-days lockdown is due to end next week Thursday, 16^th, April, 2020. Until then let’s all adhere to regulations, encourage, inform, and educate each other about the virus and its effects on human life particularly. As to whether the lockdown will be extended or not let’s wait on Ramaphosa to give us a way forward. Right now Cyril Ramaphosa has not yet decided to unlock South Africa from 21-days lockdown. But you can be certainly sure that this BLOG will be there to inform you with everything as it unfolds.

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