[imagesource: CGIS]

As we head into day 26 of the national lockdown, tensions are high.

Reports of brutal SAPS and SANDF tactics, corruption in certain regions, and a seemingly arbitrary designation of what can and can’t be considered an essential good have deepened mistrust between the authorities imposing regulations, and ordinary South Africans.

These unprecedented circumstances can lead to misunderstandings, and a tendency to react to information before verifying it – something which also facilitated the dissemination of fake news before it became a punishable offence.

A video was recently doing the rounds on Twitter showing Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula (above) seemingly reprimanding a man at a roadblock for not having a permit to shop for groceries. The video was met with outrage from the general public, but Mbalula says that it has been taken out of context.

Here’s the video, which was filmed on Easter Friday during an operation at Grasmere toll plaza:

Is this minister for real? Permit to be on the road to buy food? pic.twitter.com/wEjr4Kg6PX

— AnimalsRule (@AnimalsRule9) April 20, 2020

He really gets a kick out of showing off the power he wields.

According to News24, the man in the video was arrested. Mbalula defended this on Twitter by stating the following:

This was one in a series of tweets in which Mbalula said that the man’s driving permit had expired in 2016. Therefore, it was four years out of date and doesn’t qualify for the extension to renew licences brought about due to the lockdown.

The man claimed that he was on his way home after buying food, but no food was found in his vehicle. He also claimed to own an essential business, but allegedly did not have an essential workers permit to prove this.

If you’re unclear on the rules and regulations of the lockdown, you can read up about them here. 

You should also familiarise yourself with the correct procedure to follow if you’re stopped by law enforcement.

Mbalula has found himself defending his actions often over the past week. In a separate incident, the African Transformation Movement (ATM) has accused him of breaking lockdown regulations when he addressed a group of roughly 300 people at the Noord Taxi Rank in Joburg, IOL reports.

However, in a statement released on Tuesday evening, Mbalula said when he went to the taxi rank he found an unfortunate “situation where the number of people at the taxi rank left a lot to be desired.”

“It is rather unfortunate that the ATM chose to use the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic to score cheap political points for their 15 minutes of fame,” he said.

Mbalula says that he had visited the taxi rank in his capacity as the Minister of Transport to monitor compliance levels amongst taxi owners, and to “to emphatically communicate the message” that lockdown laws had to be followed.

The ATM is sticking to their guns, have opened a case against Mbalula at the Johannesburg Central Police Station, and have appealed to President Ramaphosa to take action.

Sadly, there is precedent for ANC officials flouting the rules of lockdown.

Whether or not this is the case now, will be left up to the president and law enforcement.

[sources:news24&iol]