‘These measure are good for you’ – Premier Makhura asks Gauteng residents to cooperate

Gauteng Premier David Makhura has called on citizens to cooperate with the government’s Covid-19 regulations, saying “Covid knows no boundaries”.

Makhura was speaking at a weekly Gauteng Coronavirus Command Council briefing on Thursday where he warned that the province was seeing substantial community transmission of Covid-19.

“No one should ever say that Covid-19 will not go to the townships.

“If there are any people entertaining stories that it does not affect people in the townships, we are now seeing those community-transmitted cases,” Makhura said.

Regulate themselves

He warned Gauteng residents that it was in their interests to follow Covid-19 regulations and said police should not be the ones implementing the regulations because residents could regulate themselves.

“We want to say to our people… whether you live in a suburb or in the township, these measures are good for you.

“We don’t want to the police to be ones to force you to understand this is important and about saving lives,” he said.

Under level 4, Makhura said, community support would be relied on to flatten the curve.

“We have gone through level 5… the police and the army had to do things that they had been called to order by our national government and even in the provinces. They don’t have to do those things,” he added.

Work together

Instead, community members could do this themselves, Makhura added.

“I want to make an impassioned plea today that we need people in our communities to work with us. For us to succeed, the road ahead is tough.

“There are still going to be more infections and there are still going to be more fatalities, but we can reduce that […] we would like to work with you at home. Help us,” Makhura said.

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