And that was that. A last minute announcement of a Presidential address to the nation, which was then (as is tradition) late in starting. And the news that the State of Disaster, whose regulations had been with us for 750 days, and which provided the framework upon which the lockdown and everything else Covid-related was attached, was summarily ended at midnight last night.
With it go many of the rules and regulations which have governed our lives for the past two years, although there is some confusion as to where we stand with mask wearing and 50% capacity in venues, given that it seems that there is no longer any legislation under which to enforce that, but we’re still supposed to do it. That legislation will be forthcoming later this month, but in the meantime, there are a big grey area.
Gone too then is the 6000 miles… The Lockdown Diaries category: 767 posts of thoughts, opinions, news and – now – memories of the lockdown. Including one where our neighbour told the local WhatsApp group that she had microwaved her newspaper, and another where I hit 91.9kph running in the back garden.
Oh, and the reminder that in April 2020, I went to the supermarket (once):
Halcyon days.
To be honest, we haven’t really been locked down for a long while now, and last night’s change won’t really make much difference to anyone’s lives here.
But, let the record show that South Africa’s State of Disaster is officially over. And before I hit PUBLISH, let me click that The Lockdown Diaries button one last time. It’s been wild.