Taking the opportunity to walk around town on Saturday, it was clear that, while shops proving essential items were maintaining social distancing rules as best as they could, the queues waiting to enter shops where long.
Maintaining social distancing is difficult even during the quieter times of the month, but payday means that everyone can restock and so head down to the shops where social distancing is much more difficult.
This week signals the last week of Level-5 lockdown regulations. Next Friday, May 1, will see the lifting of certain restrictions and the re-selling of goods that were previously prohibited. That will possibly cause another inflow of people into town who have had to do without certain items during the previous 21-days of the Level-5 lockdown regulations. It is also the time for social grants to be issued, and another reason why people will be gathering in towns throughout the Ndlambe area.
If we are to overcome the spread of the Covid-19 virus then we must maintain social distancing. It may, therefore, be necessary for us to reconsider the times we go shopping so that these long queues can be avoided and thereby reduce the chances of transmission.
