In a Western Cape village, where people trace their roots back to the Khoi people and freed slaves, one man was worried the coronavirus would spread and so he took action
, saw their monthly income cut from R1 200 to R750. Despite this, they do not qualify for food parcels. For some, this has driven them in desperation into the expectant arms of a character familiar to so many, the money lender. Like a benevolent plaas baas of old, the money lender controls many people’s finances and ensures they’re clothed and fed. But, like the plaas baas, he tries to fulfill all the needs of those people in his “care”, a modern-day general dealer.
Many of those who show up her door and sign the registration form required by the department of social development are older people. The documenting of those who are fed helps ensure that food is restricted to those who do not receive a social grant, much to Nefdt’s frustration. With Covid-19, the number of people at her door has increased. “You don’t know what troubles people face, so how can I turn away someone who asks for a plate of food?” she reasoned.
Then came Covid-19. Anna counts the start of the lockdown, March 27, as the first day of her being drug free. “The lockdown made it easier to stay indoors, out of trouble. To be honest, I’m really grateful for Covid,” she said. Anna works on a farm for two days a week. “It feels good to be bringing something in, rather than stealing.”
As the children play their cleverly improvised games, adults with places to go walk the streets, passing youngsters lingering on street corners, seemingly ever watchful. Less than a handful of the people in a three-block radius are wearing protective masks. “People are becoming more aware, but it’s mostly the older people who are taking this thing seriously,” said Margaret Africa, the head of Genadendal’s Legal Info Desk.
When he first experienced body aches and a headache he decided to visit a hospital in Hermanus, about 80km away. His tests revealed he had Covid-19. “At first I was a little scared, but even then I knew that everything is under the God, not over the God,” said Nigussie. A few hundred meters away, parishioners sat on their respective stoeps, clutching a Bible or hymnal. Outside the church, about 20 people swayed with their raised hands, betraying them as not from the Protestant tradition. By the time the familiar lament of, had started making their way through Genadendal to bless its various buildings.
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