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JOHANNESBURG – “Go home. I could arrest you for that.”
The strong message came from the policeman armed with a pistol and a baton. It cannot have left any doubt in the mind of its recipient, a citizen deemed to be in violation of South Africa’s strict new anti-Covid rules.
The country’s security forces stepped up controls on the streets of Johannesburg on Tuesday night, under orders to implement what authorities called a “zero tolerance approach” for offenders.
READ: COVID-19 Vaccine: Government Urged to Be Transparent
The restrictions turn the clock back to the first months of the coronavirus pandemic in South Africa.
Announced Monday by President Cyril Ramaphosa, they include a new ban on the sale of alcohol, the cause of accidents and violence that deplete hospital resources.
The use of masks in public space has become mandatory and potentially punishable by jail.
Bars and restaurants were ordered to close starting at 8 p.m., followed an hour later by a curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Ramaphosa, like other leaders struggling with the second wave of the pandemic, pointed the finger at social events and the holiday period to undermine surveillance.
“We have let down our guard and sadly now we are paying the price,” he said.
The coronavirus has claimed more than 27,500 lives in South Africa, the highest on the continent.
The country also became the first to register more than one million registered cases, out of a population of 59 million.
When the curfew began on Tuesday, several dozen police cars fanned out through dilapidated districts in Johannesburg, a city of five million people, to convey the message.
As the patrols passed, the shadows faded into darkness. A girl and a boy were caught in the car’s headlights, but when the police got out of their vehicle, they had already disappeared.
Further up the street, a dozen police cars formed a roadblock, stopping traffic and controlling the driver.
“From 9pm there is no movement,” a policeman told the driver of a minibus taxi.
“Wear your mask, boss,” he ordered the driver before getting on board to conduct an alcohol search.
– Grimy mask with sequins –
The driver’s body was then searched, quickly questioned in Zulu, and joined by others who were detained in the police car.
“Those are going to spend the night at the police station. Some will be free tomorrow morning, others will go to court,” said the policeman.
READ: SUMMARY: SA will go to Lockdown Level 3 starting at midnight
In the midst of all this passed a homeless man loaded with bottles and plastic cans, with a rosary around his neck.
“Do you know what time? Do you know the new regulations?” a policewoman yelled. “What if I give you a ticket? You don’t have money to pay.”
Slowly the man reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out a dirty mask incongruously decorated with sequins.
She put on her mask, waved her hand, picked up her purse, and moved on, a figure walking away amid the flashing police lights.
