Shopping trolleys being used to establish social distancing.
Scenes of bustling queues at social grant pay points have alarmed South Africans trying to use social distancing to defeat the Covid-19 virus.
Now it appears the department of social development has come up with a novel solution, the humble shopping trolley.
In a tweet showing Minister Lindiwe Zulu visiting pay points to make sure precautions are in place, the shopping trolley method is revealed in one of the attached photographs.
Last week the shopping trolley featured prominently in South African life, as thousands of panic buyers used them to shift weeks’ worth of goods from fast-depleting shelves.
Now it appears the humble trolley is on the pathway to redemption. As long queues formed for social grant payments, trolleys have been spotted as mobile barriers for the enforcement of social distancing.
Earlier this month it was announced that Sassa had brought forward the payment of social grants for the elderly and persons with disabilities for the month of April in an effort to lower the risk of Covid-19 infection by reducing congestion at retailers and banks.
In a statement, Sassa said it had been inundated with concerns about grant payments for April in light of the Covid-19 global pandemic reaching the country.
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