By: Nosipho Haya-Komisa
Thousands of South Africans are expected to flock to various shopping malls this coming Friday for the long-awaited Black Friday specials.
Meanwhile, the Buffalo City Metro Command centre and the Provincial Command Council predicted that the Black Friday shopping day might be the spreader of the Coronavirus in the province.
“It was noted that the upcoming Black Friday shopping day is a possible virus super spreader, if not managed properly,” said Buffalo City Metro Spokesperson Sam Ngwenya.
Ngwenya said in preparation for the long-awaited Black Friday shopping day the Metro is calling on all business owners and taxi drivers to adhere to the regulations of the alert level one.
“The Metro is calling on the business industries and the transport industry to play their part as we note the surge of new Covid-19 cases in the last few weeks,” said Ngwenya.
He further said Buffalo City Metro disaster management and the BCM command Centre have already met with the major stores in the Metro to discuss their readiness for the upcoming Black Friday.
“Our Command Centre members together with Disaster Management held consultative meetings with Managers of BCMM shopping malls, major retail chain stores on their premises on Friday 13 November to discuss their plans for Black Friday with regards to their readiness for crowd management and other Covid-19 health and safety measures/protocols,” he said.
Ngwenya said their inspection on major stores in the Metro will continue up until the end of this week and that needed recommendations will be proposed where necessary.
“Necessary recommendations have been proposed to avoid major problems on Black Friday day. Shopping Malls already visited include Hemmingways, Vincent, Gilwell and Stone Towers. The rest will be visited during the week,” said Ngwenya.
“The BCMM Multi-Stakeholder Departments will jointly monitor all Shopping Malls and major retail chain stores. Small to Medium Business will also be visited during the week to assess Covid-19 readiness for Black Friday,” he said.
Ngwenya further urged residents to adhere to the regulations of the lockdown to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus during Black Friday shopping day and beyond.
“We call upon businesses to exercise caution, ensure that staff and customers wear masks, that they screen everyone and enforce social distance,” said Ngwenya.