South Africa, Cape Town – President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday night sent a stern warning to South Africans to behave, or he would be forced to make swift changes should the country’s coronavirus situation worsen. He implemented a number of new restrictions, which among them, was the closure of beaches.
All Eastern Cape and Garden Route beaches will be closed during the festive season. In KZN, all beaches will be closed on December 16, 25, 26, 31 and January 1, 2 and 3.
All festivals, live music, live performances and events are prohibited at the beach.
In the Western Cape (with the exception of the Garden Route) and the Northern Cape, beaches and public parks are to remain open.
Mzansi has been left with sketches, as there have been pictures and videos floating around on social media showing how some have taken their backyard, or even to rivers to make up for missing out on the beach.
Mr President! You Can Close The Beaches! But Not Our Rivers! 🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/qGC0bZoe8g
— Thabiso Sithole (@ThabisoSithole) December 15, 2020
They closed the beach, but didn’t say anything about the river 🤷🏾♂️ pic.twitter.com/ErwQ3yVP6G
— KHUSHUKHUSHU (@BigskySA) December 17, 2020
😂😂😂😂😂
Beach closed🤔
Rivers/lakes open 💁🏾♂️ pic.twitter.com/Q07aIrcZgy— Lenong_SA🇿🇦 (@eagle99_sa) December 17, 2020
One of the posts shows how some have taken to using tubs or even putting their very own umbrella in the street near puddles to recreate the feeling of lying on the shore.
Garden Route District Municipality mayor Memory Booysen (DA) said: “We are not satisfied with these regulations and we are challenging it with the Presidency. What we want is some leniency because why should we be treated any differently to KwaZulu-Natal. We want at least people to spend time on the beach. This will have a devastating impact on the businesses surrounding the beaches and the accommodation industry.”
On Wednesday, Police Minister Bheki Cele also visited beaches in Cape Town to ensure beachgoers were adhering to Covid-19 regulations.
Cele visited nine beaches: Strand, Macassar, Monwabisi, Mnandi, Strandfontein, Muizenberg, Camps Bay, Clifton and Big Bay. Cele’s day-long visit to various beaches included the inspection of operational deployments as well as the assessment of adherence to lockdown regulations.
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