There are three things that are essential for a South African Christmas: a very large box of Bakers Choice Assorted Biscuits, Quality Streets chocolates for decorating the lunch table and rain on Christmas Day.
This year, add a face mask to the Christmas stockings.
Hopefully it won’t become a tradition.
Ramaphosa’s family chat with his errant children (that’s us) on Monday night went better than could have been expected.
If you listened carefully you would have heard a collective sigh of relief over Ballito as the President announced that KZN beaches will only be closed on certain days and not the entire season, as many feared.
I was so nervous that had I not been so busy editing this paper on Monday afternoon I would have taken myself for a swim, just in case.
Beaches will be closed on December 16, 25, 26 and 31 and January 1, 2 and 3.
I do see the logic in closing the beaches on public holidays.
Anyone who has ever been to the beach on New Year’s Day can tell you that social distancing is hardly possible.
The total closure of our beaches would have destroyed our holiday trade in this beach town, though, and that would have made for a real blue Christmas.
Even without beach closures I believe the news of a second Covid wave has brought with it many accommodation cancellations.
Ballito even got a mention from the President; those Rage kids have put us in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
At first I thought he said beaches would only be open from 9am, which cause great concern and confusion among residents. But now I see this only applies to parks.
There was also a great deal of wild fist pumping when Ramaphosa added that drinking alcohol in public was prohibited.
Although, for clarity’s sake he could have added that it always was and will continue to be prohibited after the festive season.
Some might mistakenly take this for a purely lockdown restriction.
Why the liquor stores have to close from Friday to Sunday again is also a mystery.
People will only buy what they need during the week, surely?
Extended curfew from 11am to 4am is another one sure to cause great celebration among animal lovers.
I am hoping this means I will not need to worry as much about my poor hounds because this should put an end to quite a few firework displays.
I hope they do not all migrate to back yards though (I might still need to medicate those pooches after all… sigh).
But I refuse to let the second wave get me down.
There is so much to be thankful for.
We are better prepared then we were in March, for one, and for two, the recovery rate remains high at about 88,06%.
Be safe out there. Spread Christmas cheer and not Covid.
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