Life in lockdown: stories from inside a township
The coronavirus — and SA’s lockdown in response to it — throws the fault lines in SA society into sharp relief. Staying in your own home is easy in Sandton but a very different story in Alexandra
01 April 2020 - 08:00
The richest square mile in Africa has come to a standstill. In the Joburg suburb of Sandton, where men and women dressed for power usually throng the streets, only security workers are out and about. Under the 21-day lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus, they are considered essential workers.
The government’s aim in banning all unnecessary movement is simple: to save lives in a country where most people are poor, and where the health system will not be able to sustain the type of pressure that has seen even developed countries’ medical systems buckle in recent weeks...
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