01 Apr 2020

Hawkers and other informal sector operators were on Tuesday enraged at what they termed ‘a shock’ when law-enforcement officers descended on them mid-day and forced them to close their businesses.

One of the hawkers, who refused to be named, indicated that they were supposed to close their businesses on Thursday, and were surprised to see the police forcing them to close.

“As far as we know President Mokgweetsi Masisi indicated in his national address that we should close on Thursday, but we were surprised that as soon as he finished delivering his speech, police were all over town enforcing it,” he said.

In an interview, Jwaneng Deputy District Commissioner, Mr Lesang Kgomoetsile indicated that the forced closure had nothing to do with the President’s national address. “The hawkers are confusing different issues.

The forced closure was in accordance with the social distancing requirement that has been in place for a while, not because of President Masisi’s speech,” he said.

Mr Kgomoetsile said that the nature of the informal sector was that it could not avoid direct contact with customers, but said that over time, they noted with concern that the sector could not manage the social distancing requirement, hence a decision to close them up,” he said.

We have been keeping an eye on how businesses around comply with the social distancing requirement, and we are satisfied with the overall compliance except the informal sector,” he said.

Mr Kgomoetsile said that overall, the social distancing requirement was going well in town, with shops providing sanitisers to customers at the entrance and ensuring that they limited the number of clients allowed inside at a given time.

He said that police also checked the shops time and again to assist where necessary. Jwaneng, being along the Trans-Kalahari highway, used by international transporters, Mr Kgomoetsile said that they had received protocol on how to manage the situation, and were ensuring that such truckers park at a required distance from the public and in a designated area.

He said that the police, BDF and the law-enforcement committee were monitoring the truckers for compliance. Meanwhile, Mr Kgomoetsile said they had some suspected cases of coronavirus that were in isolation at Ditsweletse clinic isolation centre.

He said that three suspects had already been cleared and were awaiting three more results.

Mr Kgomoetsile urged the public to continue with precautionary measures, such as washing their hands thoroughly with soap and water, using sanitisers and avoiding contact. ENDS