Police Minister Bheki Cele has called on the communities to respect the lockdown by not selling and buying alcohol. He made the call in Polokwane ahead of a campaign to ensure compliance to the national regulations that are in place.
“There’s a big cry of alcohol here. Shut the shebeens down and be unkind to people that are breaking the law. ‘Vala joint’ people that move around drinking; tell them their lives will be better after 21 days, they’ll look good, they’ll look good after 21 days are finished, they’ll be yellow bones they’ll look good.”
Cele also says that no shop will be allowed to sell cigarettes during the lockdown as they are non-essentials. He was responding to Western Cape government’s decision to life the ban on the sale of cigarettes, emphasising that they may only be sold together with essential goods.
“This thing of people wanting to buy cigarettes ‘ayikho’, there’s no cigarettes sales here. I’m told that in one province, they wanted to do that. We spoke to the Premier to say should we find that your shops are selling cigarettes; we shut down your shop. Nothing essential about cigarettes; this disease attacks your lungs so don’t add extra pressure on your lungs by smoking.”
WC Premier Alan Winde says he has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa and national government to clarify some of the vague #Covid_19 regulations during #21daysofLockdown. This follows the failed bid by the provincial government to lift ban on the sale of cigarettes. #sabcnews pic.twitter.com/yMxI9X2D4v
— Bulelani Phillip (@BulelaniPhillip) April 3, 2020
Business shut down for non-compliance with lockdown regulations
The Labour Department and the Hawks have shut down a business in Benrose, Johannesburg, for failing to comply with the national lockdown regulations. They conducted a raid following an intelligence-driven operation which found that TKM Southern Africa, a manufacturer of plasticware and mops, forced two illegal foreign nationals to continue to work despite the national lockdown.
The department’s advocate Michael Msiza says they also found non-compliance in terms of occupational health and safety regulations at TKM.
“But then what we have also found is that there is non-compliance in terms of occupational health and safety regulations; in terms that their machinery is written in an Asian language and that they do not have anything. They do not have fire extinguishers, they do not have any other thing like a Risk Assessment and even their electricity is next to other things. That can be very dangerous to health.”
In the video below, Minister Cele monitors lockdown compliance in Tzaneen, Limpopo:
