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Nelson Mandela Bay Township Acting Mayor Thsonono Buyeye.
- The interim mayor of the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality, Thsonono Buyeye, has asked the Presidency to act quickly to stop the spread of Covid-19 in the municipality.
- More than 100 people have died in the municipality in a week.
- The municipality is also pushing for an earlier curfew and restrictions on the sale of liquor.
Nelson Mandela Bay Township Acting Mayor Thsonono Buyeye is “anxiously waiting” for the Presidency to announce stricter regulations to halt the rising Covid-19 numbers in the township.
The subway has reached a “desperate situation”, with 103 people dying in the province in the past seven days, Buyeye said.
The mayor has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to take swift action as Covid-19 infections continue to rise in the province after presentations were made to Ramaphosa on Wednesday.
“If that means that people should not move to save lives, I am sure that is the route we will take. Most of it will come when the president speaks to us,” he said.
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“We continue to be the epicenter of Covid-19 in the country and the numbers continue to increase and deaths are also increasing. We continue to monitor the situation.”
Shane Brown, Nelson Mandela Bay Township Disaster Management Chair, said there are currently 3,500 active cases on the metro. Of these, 109 people are in intensive care.
Buyeye confirmed that the municipality has called on the Eastern Cape government to re-adjust the curfew at 10 p.m. instead of midnight, and said that engagements with liquor dealers and tavern owners.
He added that the municipality had received a formal presentation from the Liquor Board suggesting that business days be limited to Monday through Thursday, and that the outlets close on weekends.
“Taverns and shebeens should only sell take out food. That is what they have presented, and we have presented it and we are waiting for a response. If it is not regulated, it becomes difficult to enforce because [they] they could open and trade and there won’t be any regulation saying they can’t do that. “
Engagements have also been made with local traditional leaders around the cancellation of the December initiation season.
“However, local traditional leaders are opposed to that. They say [the entire province must not proceed or] Children are likely to run to other parts of the province and submit to tradition there. [That] It is not solving the problem because we do not want to expose other parts of the province and the country to the virus, ”he said.
