Local mall gets thumbs up for compliance from Lesufi

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The Gauteng government deployed its executive council last week to visit shopping centres across the province to assess whether they are adhering to Covid-19 measures in line with level four lockdown regulations.

Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi and his team closely inspected the East Rand Mall on May 20.

“We have picked up that some of our malls, if not monitored, can become centres from which the virus is spread, so we normally visit the malls once a week to assess compliance with Covid-19 regulations, such as adhering to social distancing, sanitising of their customers and ensuring that those who enter their premises are wearing masks,” explained Lesufi.

Briefing the media after the inspection, Lesufi said he noticed that tenants and the East Rand Mall management are going all out to ensure that their facilities do not become breeding grounds for the spread of Covid-19.

“I must be honest, we are quite excited that they (East Rand Mall) are adhering to the rules. We came here with the leadership of the municipality, law-enforcement agencies and those that are assisting us to monitor the situation, and we are quite pleased that at least this mall complies.

“We have not picked up anything untoward or identified things that need to be improved. So, we remain hopeful that this mall will remain the way it is until everything is sorted out,” said Lesufi.

During the inspections at the mall, the MEC and his team entered several outlets where they checked the adherence to the health and safety precautions in workplaces in line with level four lockdown regulations. In addition, the team also checked the expiry dates on some of the products, mostly food.

The MEC was also subjected to sanitising his hands and had his temperature checked as he and the team entered the different shopping facilities in the mall. The provincial government’s visit to the mall saw a mobile testing unit set up in the parking lot where medical workers from the provincial and Ekurhuleni metro, as well as local NGOs, were screening and testing customers for Covid-19, TB and HIV.

Lesufi also inspected the testing stations and was himself screened. More visitsLesufi pointed out that the team will become frequent visitors to shopping centres which are deemed high risk and do not comply with regulations.

“We do visits every week and if we feel there is a need to come back we will come back. We also monitor the payments of grants, so if the payments of grants makes the centre busier, we will also come to check. “Overall, everything at East Rand Mall is fine; quiet and people are practising social distancing, sanitising and being screened as they enter the shops, and no one is allowed to come in here without a mask. These are the things that all of us need to adhere to.”

Schools reopening

During the mall visit, the Gauteng Education MEC also touched on the process of making the necessary preparations for the partial opening of schools in the province, saying his department prioritises the safety of learners and staff when making decisions to reopen schools.

The GDE was expected to unveil its plan to reopen schools in the province on May 21.

“We are receiving reports from our districts in terms of readiness and on the basis of those we will make an announcement to parents. But one thing that is an overriding feature of everything that we are doing is that safety comes first. Our children and staff will be safe. School environments must also be safe to use. On the basis of those particular plans, parents will be assured that we are ready to roll out the remaining part of this year’s academic programme.

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Parents who choose not to send their children to school

The MEC said parents have the right not to send their children to school if they feel that they will not be safe. “Democracy is an exciting tool because people have the right to choose and those that decide that their children are not ready must be given support. Those that feel that their children are ready and should go to school must be given support too. When we make the announcement, we will outline the processes. This report will also outline what it is that parents who feel that their children should not go back to school need to do and the steps that they need to fill. We have a detailed plan in Gauteng and we really believe that those plans will encourage parents to bring their children into classrooms,” said Lesufi.

Salvageable

Lesufi assured parents that the 2020 academic year is still salvageable, but in everything the department will do, safety comes first. The department will have to ensure that everything is safe before it allows learners to go back to school. They will meet with all district officials working with schools to analyse each school. “We are not taking a blanket decision, each and every school must put a case forward about their readiness and if we feel that they are not ready the school will not open.

Supervision

The education MEC feels that children are better off in a school environment because in communities, some children are left to themselves and roam the streets. “Children are just playing around and no one is supervising them, but in the school premises they are supervised. They are learning and they know what life is. We also want them to know what coronavirus is and have somebody explain the virus in a manner that will help them understand. The schooling environment is actually a safe environment for all our children and we really believe that when we make the announcement on May 21, everyone will understand why we believe that we are ready.”

Monitors

The Gauteng education department is in the process of employing almost 80 000 young people to work at schools where they will be closely monitoring and helping children and staff to practise safety precautions at all times. “The deployed people will ensure that social distancing is practised and children are wearing their masks and do not exchange them and that everyone is sanitised and screened regularly.

Level three

With regard to the possible move to level three, Lesufi confirmed that the Gauteng premier, David Makhura, has made a submission of the province’s report to the Covid-19 National Command Council, led by President Cyril Ramaphosa. “We have put a case to the national command centre for our province, but the person who will have to make a final decision of where we are is the president. The president works in a consultative manner and we appreciate that. We remain hopeful that by the time the president makes an announcement about where we are as a province it will be a product of the consultations.

Vandalism

According to the MEC, the department has opted to replace the burnt or vandalised school buildings with mobile classrooms. “We have already brought in mobile classrooms to use while waiting for the construction of the damaged building blocks. Because we are only currently opening for Grade 12 and seven learners, what we have done is: the admin blocks that were vandalised have moved into the classrooms and also brought mobile classrooms in those affected schools. The current lockdown level doesn’t allow construction so we are waiting for level three to be introduced so that we can start construction of the damaged buildings. All that we have done was to remove our admin blocks from where they were to the classrooms and also order mobile classrooms. We have managed to get some of the mobile classrooms and are utilising them to replace the burnt or vandalised facilities.” – @MthuphaFanie

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