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*** Welcome to my PMB blog, the umpteenth! ***
The Corona Diaries
Page 5
Lock-down - Day 22
Where has the two weeks gone?
and
The Easter Road Death Toll and other issues
22 April 2020
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When I started to write these Corona Diary pages, it was probably to record and acknowledge the household's disappointment with the prospect of a visit from my brother-in-law and his wife being postponed. That and the rest of the cycling saga that played out in the week leading up to the Lockdown, and the first week of Lockdown. So here we are, the three weeks is now five weeks with the prospect of self isolation until September for the elderly (*** the first time ever I used that word *** take time out to follow the link provided below).
So what has happened?
We now have an indoor cycling trainer and have not yet missed a day.
Edith has been able to ride her new ebike to the nearest shopping center and back.
The home and garden is being maintained.
The "To Do" list is being shortened.
We are watching the, "Doc Martin" TV series.
What are the issues?
- Walking the dogs
- We (Edith) now taken takes the dogs for a walk within the bounds of the complex we live in. A "Dogs" Whatsapp group now exists to co-ordinate this activity within the complex. The dogs set of for the main gate and then tand there expecting to leave the property. Murray it would seem may well rather not walk at all, if the walk does not see him get to roam, mostly off the lead and at his own pace, up Nonsuch road. This is something that until recently, he has done daily, and I guess old habits die hard.
- The Cellar
- As I mentioned in an early blog, Edith saved our bacon in that regard, but probably only for three weeks. While I completely understand the motives for the banning of alcohol sales within the context of domestic violence and abuse, It does seem like we are punishing the whole country for the short comings of the culprits of such violence and abuse. It is not unlike the government during the normal course of events, deciding that in order to reduce the incidence of pedestrians being killed on our roads (one-third of all road deaths), all pedestrian traffic would be prohibited forthwith. Obviously that would be rediculous. What we do need. and have need for a long time now, is policing, apprehension, and prosecution and incarceration for transgressors.
- The Easter Road Death Toll
- The provisional figure for Australia for 2020 is 6, and that is less than half the Australian National average for the past five years. The toll has also decreased significantly in South Africa, from 126 during 2019, to 28 this year. As significant and encouraging as that is, it is more than four times the fatalities suffered in Australia during the same time period.
- The world will be different, South Africa will be different.
- Well, South Africa is already is different, very different. Twenty five years of democracy and we have not come close to realising the potential we have at our disposal. We still have a serious unemployment problem that is the root cause of many of the other problems that we have. We have also had ten plus years of Jacob Zuma's presidency, and if you consider taking our a cellphone while driving as a misdemeanour, we are basically a lawless society. It is also true that twenty five years have passed and our democracy is still intact, and that we now have a very real opportunity to turn a corner. An opportunity to use these these trying times and the magnificent response of the majority of South Africans, to start a process that fixes the cellphone (rule of law) problem, and improve the lives of all South Africans by ensuring that all who are able to work, are working. If we do not do this then surely winning the battle against COVID-19 (and Aids/TB/Diabetes/obesity etc) would have been in vain.
- It is not how it started, it is how it finishes
- The LOCKDOWN will end, we all know that. What matters, is how it ends. While I much admire the position President Ramaphosa and his government has taken regarding the fight against COVID-19, I have felt that the President himself could have been more visible. Catching a glimpse of our leader/general every now and again as we all wage the war against COVID-19, cannot be a bad thing. Admittedly we have seen his Lieutenants and while they slip up occasionally, their presence has been persistent. It has not always been perfect, but then what ever is. And to be fair, some, and the Minister of Health in particular, deserves a special mention. Now they all have to be seen to be managing the transition from the LOCKDOWN, into a situation where the economy is restarted, and the country simultaneously deals with the rise and fall of the hopefully flatter COVID-19 CURVE. Forward to the new, different and ultimately better South Africa.
- .. and finally ...
- Well my backside is never going to become accustomed to riding a bicycle that is going nowhere. Of that, I am gatvol. I want to see this new dawn, and to be there with my family and friends, able to ride through the new, different and ultimately better South Africa. And if I am lucky enough to be able to do so, I will need to remember to be both grateful, and mindful of what it has cost.
A luta continua; a vitória é certa
Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy a bicycle.
If you have any comments, corrections, suggestions or plain criticism, I would appreciate it if you would communicate the same to me.
