SA footballer slams government for reacting ‘too slow’ to coronavirus

China-based South African striker Dino Ndlovu said the South African government’s reaction to the coronavirus outbreak was “too slow”.

READ: Sports minister gives PSL green light to resume matches, but Safa quickly disagrees

The former Bafana Bafana striker, who plays for Chinese club Zhejiang Greentown FC‚ has warned that the outbreak could spiral out of control if the government is slow in containing the spread.

“Listen‚ I think in South Africa our reaction is too slow,” Ndlovu told TimesLIVE.

“I don’t like to say this but the numbers of 61 confirmed cases will rise drastically because the government doesn’t want to take a stand to say‚ ‘Look for 30 or 60 days nobody is going to work’.”

Ndlovu is currently in South Africa after Chinese clubs allowed their international players to return to their countries after football in that country was stopped two weeks ago.

The Covid-19 cases in South Africa almost doubled to 116 on Wednesday, March 18 from 61 two days previously.

Sports events across the world have ground to a halt with postponements and cancellations in the wake of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s declaration this week of a national state of disaster.

A ban of gatherings of 100 or more people has been imposed by the government but Ndlovu believes more could be done as the country grapples with the disease that is wreaking havoc worldwide.

“I say whilst numbers are still less the government should cut everything,” Ndlovu said.

“The government should lift the burden on the citizens who have debts to say that for 30 to 60 days nobody should be debited until the beginning of June‚ and then we will see how far we are in terms of this virus.”

Meanwhile, the number of coronavirus cases increased to 116, according to the health ministry on Wednesday.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.