Greenwood Parks SAPS arrest jogger during face mask patrol
Greenwood Park SAPS are going out daily to check that people are wearing their masks in public.
A JOGGER was arrested for being in public without a protective face mask on Sunday, 21 February when Greenwood Park SAPS were conducting a routine patrol on Bhamo Avenue, in Avoca.
Avoca resident, Asheel Sewsankar said he was arrested a few steps away from his home as he was returning from a morning jog.
“When they stopped me, they asked me where my face mask was and I was honest and said I never carry it when jogging. Then they got out of the police van and searched me and asked if I was doing drugs. I said I was coming from a morning run and they took me to the station and told me I had to pay a R1000 fine,” said Sewsankar.
Spokesperson for the Greenwood Park SAPS, Captain Jerome Slater confirmed that Sewsanker had paid an admission of guilt fine at the station.
Also read: Thousands arrested for not wearing masks in KZN
“Subsequently the person who was arrested paid an admission of guilt fine. I think everyone is aware that it is your responsibility to wear a mask when in public. He was jogging in a public space and he wasn’t the only person charged,” added Slater.
Sewsanker said he did not have his phone on him and did not remember any numbers to call. He was able to borrow a phone from another community member to notify his employer and family that he had been detained.
“That was four hours later that my family and friends knew where I was. At that point they where in a panic and started searching the whole area for me,” he said.
“It’s an every day procedure by SAPS, to go out and check that people are wearing masks. This is a national procedure- it’s not only only Greenwood SAPS. This is in accordance with the Disaster Management Act. If you are doing vigorous exercise, you are allowed to remove your mask but the moment you stop vigorous exercise you have to put your mask back on. You also need to be aware that while doing vigorous exercise you are not too close to other people you are breathing upon. When I go jogging, I keep the mask around my neck while jogging and then pull it back up as soon as I stop jogging. People need to keep the mask readily available while they are exercising, and put their mask back on straight away after exercising,” said Slater.
The site reads: “The wearing of a face mask is mandatory for every person when in a public place, excluding a child under the age of six years, and any person who fails to comply with a verbal instruction by an enforcement officer to wear a face mask, commits an offence and is, on conviction, liable to a fine or a period of imprisonment not exceeding six months, or to both such fine and imprisonment.”
The face mask may be removed during vigorous exercise reads the site:
“The prohibition in subregulation (3)(c) shall not apply to a person who undertakes vigorous exercise in a public place, provided that the person maintains a distance of at least one and a half metres from any other person, and subject to directions on what is considered to be vigorous, issued by the Cabinet member responsible for health.”
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