Around 74,000 members of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) were activated by President Cyril Ramaphosa to join the fight against the novel coronavirus from March 27 2020.
Captain Tshepo Mokoka commands the 21 Battalion's C-Company, deployed to enforce lockdown restrictions in Alexandra township, Gauteng.
“Now we're fighting this invisible enemy, which just came. We did not prepare for this,” Mokoka says.
Mokaka and other members of the military had initially been deployed to enforce lockdown regulations. When the nationwide lockdown moved to level 4, the soldiers' mandate changed.
Working with community leaders and local police officers in Alexandra, the military now serves to enforce curfew regulations in the area.
“Our rules of engagement have changed,” Mokoka says.
Mokoka and his company patrol Alexandra every night, constantly on the lookout for those who are contravening the curfew restrictions.
Mokaka says his biggest fear is contracting the coronavirus and passing it on to his family members and fellow soldiers.
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