City fathers have been on a whirlwind tour of Johannesburg enforcing compliance with public health regulations governing the level 4 lockdown, which restricts public life to avert the transmission of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Officials in the office of the City’s MMC for Health and Social Development, Eunice Mgcina conducted an oversight inspection of the City’s Food Distribution Centre at the Joburg Market in City Deep on Wednesday, 13 May, to ensure the facility “follows all health protocols regulating the lockdown” and were satisfied with progress made.
The Joburg Market Food Bank collects, sorts and reviews food for quality before allocating it to non-profit community agencies. Since the lockdown, the facility has allocated over 4 500 food packets to poverty-stricken communities on a daily basis.
MMC Mgcina spent the day at the Busy Corner Mall in Ebony Park, north of Johannesburg alongside Gauteng Premier David Makhura, encouraging people to get screened and tested for the novel coronavirus.
“We have to satisfy ourselves that mall management does comply with lockdown regulations to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic,” she said.
The MMC also stopped by at the Alex Mall in Alexandra, northeast of the metro to assess compliance measures by shop owners and patrons. She checked for over-priced food items and the maintenance of food security standards.
Under the level 4 lockdown, municipal employees and workers in other sectors such as retail, hawkers, transport and automotive businesses are allowed to travel and trade provided they abide by stipulated health guidelines and don’t contravene the Disaster Management Act.
“We continue to plead with our people to stay home, wash their hands and look after themselves,” said Mgcina.
In addition, public transport users have been warned not to board taxis, trains or buses without wearing an appropriate facemask; failure to do so will result in a R300 fine.
Meanwhile, the Executive Mayor, Geoff Makhubo spent the day in Snake Park and Doornkop in Soweto meeting community representatives to discuss challenges with electricity supply in the area.
“I received a petition from this community complaining about not having electricity for an extended period. We need to map a way forward on how to restore sustainable electricity supply to Snake Park and Doornkop. The meeting was cordial and there’s an agreement that Eskom will replace ageing infrastructure and the community will allow the entity to audit and normalise cabling, before signing a deferred payment agreement in lieu of the R6 000 customers should’ve paid,” Makhubo explained.
