Former YoTV presenter Hulisani Ravele has added her voice to the wave of outrage over comments made by controversial radio host and businessman Gareth Cliff in his open letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa about lockdown level four regulations.
In the letter, Gareth claimed that South Africans' "patience and emotional state of affairs are on a knife-edge" and that they are "losing hope".
He claimed regulations had to both make sense and gain the confidence of the public, warning that not doing so could end in disaster.
“Many of us aren’t afraid of the virus anymore. It’s our health and we’ll take our chances, thank you. We are afraid of the havoc your lockdown is wreaking on the economy, on people’s lives and livelihoods.
“I see fewer and fewer explanations from ministers and more and more capricious, some would say spiteful, regulation," he said.
Gareth's comments sparked outrage on social media, with many claiming his letter came from a place of privilege.
Like others, Hulisani was fuming over Gareth's letter and said that the lockdown is necessary.
"I don’t know why listening to Gareth Cliff's clip made me cry. It’s a pity privilege is a disease you cannot die from. Lockdown was never going to be easy or comfortable, it was a necessity. It was never going to be perfect either (not the brutality because that’s just wrong).
Don’t know why listening to that Garett Cliff clip made me cry. It’s a pity privilege is a disease you cannot die from. Lockdown was never going to be easy or comfortable, it was a necessity. It was never going to be perfect either (not the brutality cos that’s just wrong).
— Hulisani Ravele (@HulisaniRavele) May 2, 2020
Media personality Sizwe Dhlomo also expressed how he did not like Gareth's comments to the president.
In a tweet addressed to the former "Idols SA" judge, he wrote:
"Yo, Gareth Cliff. Two corrections here quickly. 1.) it’s not just about your own health, it’s about everyone else’s as well. 2.) It’s not 'us against the government', it’s you against the government & if I feel like you’re a hazard to those I love, then it’s you against me."
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/GarethCliff?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GarethCliff, 2 corrections here quickly. 1.) it’s not just about your own health, it’s about everyone else’s as well. 2.) It’s not “us against the government”, it’s you against the government & if I feel like you’re a hazard to those I love, then it’s you against me. https://t.co/8xC0J1p3HB
— Sizwe Dhlomo (@SizweDhlomo)