Mass Covid-19 gravesites prepared by municipalities in the province

MBOMBELA – Did you know that the seriousness of the Covid-19 pandemic has led to local municipalities being requested to prepare ground for grave sites to bury possible victims of the pandemic?

Well, that’s in the pipeline, as we speak because the MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Mandla Msibi revealed during an exclusive interview on Tuesday afternoon that he has requested all 17 local municipalities in the province to seek ground within their areas, separate from normal cemeteries where victims of the coronavirus who may succumb to disease during the forthcoming winter months, may be buried if and when they succumb to it.

As COGTA is responsible for disaster management in the province, Msibi’s department sits in the Joint Operation Council and ensures that there’s compliance, all round. The question is: Is there any compliance in the province of the Disaster Management Act regulations?

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“As you can see, there’s a problem in terms of compliance as you can see it for yourself. Because of the seriousness of this disease in the world and South Africa, in particular, I don’t think that our people have seen the seriousness this disease has got in their lives.

“Some people are just adamant to the facts at hand. I’m staying in Pienaar, as you know, it’s business as usual. People are moving up and down and doing as they wish. The only time you see people behaving is when they see police and the soldiers. They run away, only to come back to the streets when they go away.

“This disease is going to be catastrophic because we have seen in Europe because it was wintertime, it has killed many people and more were infected. We are approaching winter time and the president and the minister of health are trying their best, even in the province, the leadership is trying their level best.

“We are currently approaching winter and it is our earnest belief that it is going to kill many people. On Monday in our JOC and Provincial command council as chaired by the premier, which normally meets on a Wednesday, but lately meets regularly – yesterday we instructed local municipalities that in a worst scenario, to check for us grave sites where we can have massive burying of our people if it reaches the stage of your Wuhan, Italy, America and other countries that have undergone such a scenario.

“We are approaching winter and I was speaking to the MEC for Health, Sasekani Manzini on Monday that our programmes are very successful, but the manner in which our people are behaving, we’re going to be overwhelmed by the pandemic.

“If, for example, in Nkomazi,  as a Third World country, if 5 000 people can be infected by the disease at a go, the funeral parlours will be overwhelmed by the demand. If you want to bury your own and in some cases, conduct some rituals before burying, that won’t be possible, we need to adapt to the new situation, hence we told municipalities to prepare such land for separate burials.

“Even our quarantine venues have been identified, but we must begin to tell our people the truth. We’ve got such a situation that if an accident happens in Kanyamazane are involved in an accident in a minibus taxi, ambulances cannot take 15 people at a go to the local clinic.

“We are anticipating a worse situation, but we are still appealing to our people to adhere to the regulations, wash their hand clean with water soap and sanitize them and also adhere to social distancing,“ he stated.

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When instructing municipalities to prepare ground for gravesites, do we have the land?

“That’s why we need to prepare in advance. It differs from one area to another. We’ve got communal land, we’ve got public works land, hence in their areas of operation, they can best tell us where there’s availability. Even if it needs to be purchased, they have to inform the Provincial Command Council that there’s a arm or whatever, we can approach the farm owner and take it from there,” he added.

Are those graves not going to be nearer to the normal cemeteries?

“It will be graves for Covid-19. If you die of a car accident, that will be something else, you go to a normal grave. If a situation arises you die of Covid-19 you go your separate ways to your graves. By June, Covid-19 deaths are expected to be at their peak,” he further stated.

When the national lockdown started, there was minimal screening and testing. It’s only lately that it has peaked. Is that not the cause of the increasing figures in infection and deaths?

“We just don’t test, we screen first and when we realize that a person has a high temperature, then we test a person. But lately we’ve identified areas like Nkomazi where we are conducting testing. Currently, Nkomazi is the epicentre.

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“Our view, in the main, is that people are not adhering to the regulations, but you must remember, that there is no cure for this disease, we are just trying to flatten the curve. Let Covid-19 attack people, take them to quarantine, let them respond well, but if they are going to be infected and affected in masses, we are not going to cope,” he said.

In conclusion, what’s your stern message to the communities out there?

‘It is simple, we appeal to our people to adhere to the regulations, but as you have witnessed from May 1 when we moved from level 5 to level 4, people were so excited to be free at last, they were not adhering to the regulations, not keeping their social distancing and some not wearing masks. That’s evident at some malls.

“Our view is that we will make a submission to the Minister of Health, that there are people who will be given a time-line to go and buy the gadgets. Where I’m sitting, if the situation continues like this, we will have to revert to level 5 and try to be more stricter.

“This is the message we are sending to our people that these are difficult times and we have to work together in minimizing this pandemic,” he ended.