Children pull faces from a window of a building in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, on March 28, 2020. South Africa came under a nationwide lockdown on March 27, 2020, joining other African countries imposing strict curfews and shutdowns in an attempt to halt the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus across the continent. (Photo by MARCO LONGARI / AFP)
My dogs have no one to howl at. No one to warn: Back off! Back right off! Blah-blah-blah …
The sudden disappearance of strangers at the gate must be bewildering for the dogs. Aren’t we all baffled by the sudden requirement to stay home – for God knows how long? It must be great for the dogs, though: we are around, all of us, all day and all night; yet funny that we’re not getting the leash and hitting the road.
Who would risk the pain of being frog-marched and made to roll on the ground? Worse still, risk being slapped and baton charged? Or go from a lockdown to being locked up by Minister Bheki Cele?
So, we stay home. They sit, my dogs, and wonder where in the world a bicycle can take the postman. They wonder what happened to the grocery trolley-pushing fruit and veg hawker. Where are the pedlars of this and that; and the unrelenting Jehovah’s Witnesses? What happened to the noise-making, beer-guzzling, non-sleeping varsity students next door?
Where is the rest of Homo sapiens?
The dogs don’t know people are trapped behind burglar bars. The world has become a remarkably different place in a very short time with the coronavirus pandemic. What else can we do but comply? The number of patients continues to rise at an alarming rate, every minute, everywhere and, I’m afraid, so will the death toll.
To those who can, let’s please keep at home and learn more about Covid-19 (and each other?) Even Potus Donald Trump has woken up to the invisible enemy’s reality. Making a U-turn on his incredulous remarks, he said this week: “But it’s not the flu. It is vicious.”
So, let’s maintain the distance when we have reason enough to go out. Let’s wash our hands as often as we need to. Let’s self-isolate and test if we suspect infection. It is clearly the best we can do to save ourselves and help curb the spread of this sinful virus.
As you can see, President Cyril Ramaphosa and his ministers are really earning their money, giving regular updates, going into the communities, setting up temporary shelters, pleading for compliance … We too, should play our part.
Help whichever way you can, or just stay home.
And we can hopefully start all over again … and the bicycle can deliver the postman to my dogs to bark at.
Mojalefa Mashego.
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