Life in Potchefstroom changed when the students left
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown was certainly not something we expected and it changed our normal life as we knew it.
Like every student I was excited and looking forward to going home for the recess to take the much needed break from studies. Being an international student, a lot goes into preparing to go home, and with the short stipulated time frame for people to travel back to their respective homes, it was impossible for me.
During the four-day window proposed by South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, to travel, Lesotho also announced its lockdown and all the borders were closed in an effort to restrict the spread of Covid-19. I got stuck in Potchefstroom and had to adapt to being alone all the time, feeling lonely, miserable, hopeless and depressed. Elation would hit me once in a while when getting essentials because that was the only way of escaping from the confines of my room.
The pandemic has surely hit the world hard and brought it to its knees. The dramatic change will linger our lives for longer than we think, which will be evident through economic constraints, loss of life and countless retrenchments.
Soon after Ramaphosa’s declaration of a national state of disaster and enforcing a nationwide lockdown, life as we knew it changed for the worst, as people were required to stay at home to avoid being infected by the virus and to stop the possible spread of it.
Potchefstroom’s suburbs soon mimicked a picture of a semi-abandoned town, owned by pigeons and private car owners, who regardless of the lockdown, seemed to be living their normal lives, judging from a high number of moving cars in town. Very few pedestrians could be seen walking as compared to vehicle numbers, and from a bystander’s perspective, one would think the lockdown rules have only been imposed on people who don’t own vehicles.
In the meantime, the retail sector has changed radically to protect their own employees. Among them are OK Grocers and Spar, which have marked the pathways leading to their entrances with a one-metre distance lines to enforce the social distancing tenet on queues, as suggested by the South African government. Upon entering the stores, an employee acting as a queue marshal controls the number of customers entering the establishment, and sprays hand sanitiser to promote hygiene.
Spar Chemist does the same. Barricade tape is used to guide customers in the store, to keep a safe distance between the customer and the pharmacist, and also to keep customers from touching counters. A payment method of tapping a credit card has also been implemented to limit contact.