President Cyril Ramaphosa has officially deployed members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to support the police throughout the 21-day national lockdown that will come into effect on midnight Thursday.
He earlier announced that the country’s number of confirmed cases now stands at 927. This is 225 more than the ones reported on Wednesday.
The lockdown will restrict South Africans to their homes until the 16th of April. Only essential service workers will be allowed to go to their places of work while others will only be able to go out to shop for essential items, access health services and in emergency situations.
Ramaphosa was addressing the army in his capacity as Commander-In-Chief at the Doornkop Army Base in Soweto.
“This is not a moment for skop and donner. This is not a moment for skiet and donner. This is a moment to be supportive to our people. I, therefore, order you to go out and execute this mission with great success. Thank you very much,” says Ramaphosa.
Sociologist at the University of Stellenbosch, Professor Lindy Heinecken, says years of under-funding of the army may hamper efforts to enforce the lockdown. She says the army is not properly equipped to deal with humanitarian deployment and maintenance of public law.
