South Africans may be sharing memes and jokes (and fake news) on WhatsApp and social media, but we’re also under a great deal of stress as we face a minimum of 21 days stuck indoors.

Sure, it’s so tough that Karen in Constantia is having to wash her own clothes and dishes, and Netflix has reduced the quality of its streaming during lockdown, but I’m talking more about the fear and uncertainty that millions of South Africans are being confronted with.

Perhaps that’s why there is such a polarised reaction to this video of a braai during lockdown, which first started circulating on Sunday evening.

You may already have seen it, but here’s what we’re talking about:

That CAW licence plate around the 10-second mark points to George, and some sleuths believe they have pinpointed the exact location.

If that video above doesn’t work, see the tweet that started the entire debate here, where the account, @ali_naka, tagged the SA Police Service.

To kick off the debate, here’s IOL:

Opinion is divided on whether the couples – who are having a braai just outside their homes on different street corners while engaging in conversation, with children playing nearby – are defying the lockdown regulations or whether it’s within their rights to do so.

Some deem it just another instance of “white privilege” being exercised, with the majority of South Africans having to contend with coping in confined spaces for 21 days.

In many instances in the country, people are forced on to the streets to look for food – let alone have a braai – nor do they have the luxury of bigger yards and rooms the middle class enjoy.

A snapshot of the debate in the replies to that original tweet:

To further add fuel to the fire, videos have emerged showing SAPS and SANDF officers forcing residents of Soweto to do push-ups and squats as punishment for breaking lockdown rules.

This has led many to ask if the same thing would happen to the people having a braai.

Perhaps now, finally, the penny may be starting to drop about how different the lived realities of South Africans really are, which could be a huge positive when we finally emerge from this pandemic.

Writing for the Citizen, Gopolang Moloko agrees:

On one hand we will have tales of survival without a maid and limited toilet paper, and on the other how someone died due to a growing pandemic as health workers could not save the 15th person to die from the virus in the same congested township.

We live in different realities, and I hope this pandemic shocks us into unknown territory emotionally for us to realise that for once we actually need each other…

We are in unknown territory, and it is our will to unite and support the national order to remain at home to limit the spread of the virus, which may defeat our common enemy to ensure we all get back to our realities of privilege, or lack of it.

You can talk about Rugby World Cup wins and other sporting events as uniting the country, but I’m not sure our short democratic history has ever seen South Africans as united in a single cause as we are now.

Although we’re coming at it from very different angles and perspectives, we’re all fighting the same battle here.

Stay home, stay safe, and stay compassionate towards one another.

[sources:iol&citizen]