27 March 2020 1 Min Read
IN PICS | Empty streets, soldiers on the ground on day one of lockdown
- A man walks in empty streets in Johannesburg on the first day of the 21-day lockdown.
- Closed recreational facilities in Johannesburg on March 27 2020.
- Members of the SA National Defence Force line up ahead of being deployed around the city from Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown, Johannesburg on the evening of March 26.
- Members of the SANDF in Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown, Johannesburg.
- Law enforcement officials on the streets of Johannesburg during the early hours on Friday morning.
- Law enforcement officials confiscate and pour alcohol onto a street in Johannesburg at the start of lockdown.
- A street with only one person in Cape Town on Friday.
- One of the abandoned public spaces in Cape Town amid the coronavirus pandemic on Friday.
- A Soweto eatery closed for business on Friday.
- The empty streets of Bloemfontein CBD on Day 1 of the 21-day lockdown to try and curb the spread of COVID-19.
- A police officer in a van patrols the streets of the Bloemfontein day on Day 1 of the 21-day lockdown.
- People onboard a taxi in the CBD in Bloemfontein on Day 1 of the 21-day lockdown. People whose jobs are considered essential services are allowed to work while shops continue to provide food.
- Long Street in Cape Town at midnight during the national lockdown.
- The colourful houses of Bo-Kaap in Cape Town, at midnight during lockdown.
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South Africa officially went into lockdown at midnight on Thursday in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus which has resulted in two deaths and more than 1,000 infections in the country.
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Our photographers were out from midnight to record how the nation is adhering to the call by President Cyril Ramaphosa to stay at home, and how the law enforcement agencies are dealing with those who refuse to follow the rules.
Before Ramaphosa deployed soldiers to the streets, he urged South Africans to be patient and stay at home.
Government departments are expected to brief the nation on Friday evening about the latest on the pandemic, and detail the events during day one of lockdown.