City eerily deserted as lockdown also shines light on cramped township condition

On day three of SA’s coronavirus lockdown on Sunday, the surreal air of a scifi movie was starting to wear off as the grim reality of the situation  hit home for many.

Across Nelson Mandela Bay,   dozens of scenes that one day might make for vivid material in a blockbuster film were playing out — soldiers bizarrely kitted out with rifles and masks; a feisty policewoman, hand sanitiser at the hip, trying to order a drunk pedestrian home; authorities confronting an errant group of churchgoers, also breaking regulations by being on the street; deserted beaches and suburban streets; Perspex safety screens erected to limit transmission of the virus at supermarket tills; and a sombre group of township residents sharing a bottle of brandy and warning, “we are on the edge”.

However, while the world at large has become suddenly less benign, people themselves generally seem to have become friendlier.

Many folks queuing to pay for essential items were seen keeping  a safe distance from each other and nobody is shaking hands any more.

But everyone is saying hello to everyone.

Yes, the city is in lockdown but this killer virus also seems to have brought people together.

And, with the lack of industry and road traffic significantly reduced, even the air seems cleaner and the sky bluer.

One of the things the virus has done is shine a light on conditions in the townships.

In Walmer Township on Sunday, Nolundi Mgwatyu, 28, described how she shared a multi-roomed shack with 25 people.

They, along with three people living  in a house on the same plot, share one toilet and one tap.

To meet the injunction from the government that they must frequently wash their hands,  they do so when they can in a bucket of water to which a drop of bleach has been added.

“If one of us gets the virus then all of us will get it,” Mgwatyu said.