That festive mood that South Africans usually experience this time of the year is missing. Tonight, the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality would have hosted a big season-opening event along our beaches, but the beaches have been declared a no-go zone by President Cyril Ramaphosa until January 3.

In a normal year, people would by now have made travel arrangements to visit family or spend a couple of weeks somewhere along SA’s beautiful coastline. Instead, many will spend the holidays at home...