GOVT EXTENDS SHOPS TRADING HOURS, CURFEW

LOBAMBA – If it was a football match, the score would have been 5-2 to Cabinet in a game against Members of Parliament (MPs).

However, despite the Executive not giving in to all the MPs demands, the majority of the legislators left Parliament happy yesterday after the Acting PM, Themba Masuku, gave in to two of their requests, which were the extension of the operation of retail outlets from 6pm to 8pm and the extension of the curfew from 8pm to 11pm. The acting PM, through a ministerial statement, informed the House yesterday that government had taken the decision to extend the curfew hours from 8pm to 11pm. He said this was particularly because they had been made aware that some emaSwati have had to sleep at the border when crossing from South Africa in the evening because of the curfew hours. “Similarly, the opening of shops is being extended from 6pm to 8pm,” said Masuku.

Convenience

He said this was with effect from today, March 11, 2021. However, Masuku was not explicit on whether convenience shops in filling stations would be allowed to operate for 24 hours. His statement finally brought an end to a tug-of-war which Cabinet and the House had regarding the extension of the partial lockdown by two weeks after the MPs, last week Friday, called for government to review its decision within 48 hours, a period which elapsed on Monday. Following government’s non-compliance with the motion, the MPs had taken it upon themselves to delay the completion of the debate on the budget speech. This led to the MPs and Cabinet being locked in caucuses both on Monday and Tuesday until the acting PM came with what was deemed by a majority of the MPs as a positive step.

The demands which the MPs unsuccessfully lobbied were the reopening of churches to whatever capacity that government deemed fit, the lifting of the ban on alcohol sales and a proper plan and date on when schools would be reopened. In his ministerial statement, the acting PM said government was currently in the final stages of completing the processes, systems and measures to ensure the safe reopening of schools and places of worship. “As a result, the extended restrictions announced last week will continue to be in effect with the exception of the extended curfew hours and extended shops opening hours,” he said. In his statement, the acting PM made no mention of alcohol. Instead, Masuku said government was alive and conscious of the challenges to the economy and livelihoods that this decision presented.

He said, however, it was in the best interest of government’s primary responsibility of saving lives. “We cannot afford to lose more lives,” said Masuku. The acting PM said he knew that some of the decisions would hurt, but they had to be taken to save lives. “We continue to appeal for calm and understanding as we navigate these rough yet deadly waters,” said Masuku.
He said the country could not afford to relax and be indecisive when the lives of emaSwati were in severe danger and that everyone looked forward to the day when life would be back to normal, a time to execute daily duties without constantly looking over your shoulder in fear. “This day is coming sooner than later only if we take bold decisions at this time,” said Masuku.

He said government had started to see a decline in the number of new cases and deaths, however, health experts had insisted that there was a need for consistent low infection rates to be able to ease restrictions without threating the lives of emaSwati.   Masuku said a lot had happened in a year and unfortunately, 658 lives had been lost in the country, stating that no nation had mastered the art of fighting the virus successfully. “While the first wave took us by storm, the second wave stretched our health systems to the limit and took the lives of hundreds of emaSwati within two months,” said Masuku.

He said based on health advice, government, last week, took a decision to extend the current partial lockdown  restrictions by a further two weeks. He said the sole aim was to delay the start of the third wave and ensure that all systems had received enough boosters to withstand the pressures of a wave predicted to be deadlier than the previous two. Masuku said they would continuously review their decisions to strike the necessary balance between saving lives and livelihoods. After Masuku had finished making his statement, several MPs, including the mover of the initial motion, Lobamba Lomdzala MP Marwick Khumalo, indicated that they wanted to debate it.

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