My message to you on the eve of national lockdown

Written by Michael Owen March 26th, 2020

News

Tomorrow, Friday 27 March, marks the beginning of South Africa’s 21-day lockdown. We truly do find ourselves in uncharted territory. President Ramaphosa and has cabinet have been working around the clock to install drastic measures to ‘flatten the curve’ of the coronavirus pandemic.

But, where does that leave us – the ordinary South African citizen? Well, that is where my one, simple message comes in:

I can confidently say, in fact I am more than confident – I will put a bottle of hand sanitizer on the line – that over the years many of us have been overly critical of our government. We have been quick to our keyboards to slam them for all that has gone wrong in this country. Some such accusations may be justified, whilst at other times, not. But that is besides the point. The point is this:

The President of the Republic of South Africa has taken quick, effective action that places an onus on you and I to do something – to stay home. The ball is now in our court. Will you play ball? Will you stay at home to help fight the invisible warrior? You may think to yourself, “Gee Michael you have not offered us anything new to what’s already been said.” To that I reply – let me provide perspective by revealing your potential hypocrisy if you fail to act accordingly; considering that I have already guaranteed you having lambasted the government in the past for their failure to act, can you put your money where your mouth is and not fail to act in the same way you allege the government has failed to act in the past?

Stay at home.

Whilst generations before us were sentenced to the front-lines of warfare, we have been sent to the comfort of our couch. And yes, how disastrous is it that we cannot walk our dogs (which you probably only walked once a month anyway).

The truth is, South Africa stands at a crossroads – one path leads to the recovery of this pandemic, while the other leads to a worsened and crippled state. President Ramaphosa has played his part thus far. Which path South Africa goes down is actually determined by how we, ordinary citizens, act in the 21 days that follow. Yes, the blame is placed onus if we fail, but it is also us to thank when we beat it. Now is not the time to be “smart” by finding trivial reasons to leave your homes. Doing so makes you a criminal against South Africa.

Medical and food supplies is all that requires you to leave your home, unless an otherwise valid reason exists – where I wish you good luck trying to explain to SANDF who probably has vague instructions that they don’t fully understand.

In summation: can you not give in to your own hypocrisy and simply stay at home during an unprecedented time?

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