Staff Reporter
The Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality has assured residents that essential services such as waste removal and electricity supplies will not be affected by the 21-day national lockdown set to start at midnight this Thursday.
Spokesperson Qondile Khedama said in a statement the municipality’s Joint Operation Centre has been activated to coordinate and monitor service delivery during the COVID-19 lockdown set to run until April 16.
No recreational facilities will however be open to the public and hawkers have been ordered off the streets.
“Social and recreational facilities such as halls, parks, libraries and sports facilities are closed for this duration,” read part of the statement.
“Hawkers have been informed that they should vacate their areas of operation for the duration of the lockdown.
“As part of measures to combat the spread of the virus, the municipality will be conducting deep cleaning of high-density populated areas in the respective regions.”
The municipality said funerals will be allowed but there should not be more than 50 people in attendance and no night vigils should be conducted.
Cemetery staff will be on duty throughout the lockdown period.
The city’s environmental health practitioners will visit funeral undertakers in the city to educate them on how to handle bodies of those who succumb to COVID-19.
Essential services to be provided during the lockdown period include disaster management; traffic and law enforcement; fire and rescue; cemeteries; customer care for indigent burials; municipal health services; waste removal; water and sanitation services; roads and storm water services; fresh produce market; and electrical services.
However, Mangaung, which is currently under administration, has struggled in recent months to collect garbage on time, leaving it to pile up on the streets in different parts of the city.
“As Mangaung Metro, we are working closely with the provincial government, but we are also encouraging communities to play their role by following the regulations to curb the spread of COVID-19,” concluded the statement.