Cape Town - Despite the beaches being closed in the Eastern Cape, Garden Route and in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africans have found their own ways to enjoy the summer weather and cool down from the heat.
President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday night sent a stern warning to South Africans to behave, or he would be forced to make swift changes should the country’s coronavirus situation worsen.
He implemented a number of new restrictions, which among them, was the closure of beaches.
All Eastern Cape and Garden Route beaches will be closed during the festive season. In KZN, all beaches will be closed on December 16, 25, 26, 31 and January 1, 2 and 3.
All festivals, live music, live performances and events are prohibited at the beach.
In the Western Cape (with the exception of the Garden Route) and the Northern Cape, beaches and public parks are to remain open.
Following the announcement, there have been pictures and videos floating around of social media showing how some have taken their backyard, or even to rivers to make up for missing out on the beach.
One of the posts shows how some have taken to using tubs or even putting their very own umbrella in the street near puddles to recreate the feeling of lying on the shore.
Cos beaches are closed. No thanks COVID. 😂 eish mzansi!
Posted by Saffa Sisterhood onWednesday, 16 December 2020
South Africans have also taken to using memes and older videos to show how people might end up having full beach days by the river.
Mr President! You Can Close The Beaches! But Not Our Rivers! 🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/qGC0bZoe8g
— Thabiso Sithole (@ThabisoSithole) December 15, 2020
😂😂😂😂😂
— Lenong_SA🇿🇦 (@eagle99_sa) December 17, 2020
Beach closed🤔
Rivers/lakes open 💁🏾♂️ pic.twitter.com/Q07aIrcZgy
They closed the beach, but didn’t say anything about the river 🤷🏾♂️ pic.twitter.com/ErwQ3yVP6G
— KHUSHUKHUSHU (@BigskySA) December 17, 2020
Meanwhile, in the Western Cape, the closure of some beaches in Covid-19 “hotspots” has prompted DA politicians to cry foul, with legal action to halt what they described as an unconstitutional overreach.
Garden Route District Municipality mayor Memory Booysen (DA) said: “We are not satisfied with these regulations and we are challenging it with the Presidency. What we want is some leniency because why should we be treated any differently to KwaZulu-Natal. We want at least people to spend time on the beach. This will have a devastating impact on the businesses surrounding the beaches and the accommodation industry.”
On Wednesday, Police Minister Bheki Cele also visited beaches in Cape Town to ensure beachgoers were adhering to Covid-19 regulations.
Cele visited nine beaches: Strand, Macassar, Monwabisi, Mnandi, Strandfontein, Muizenberg, Camps Bay, Clifton and Big Bay. Cele's day-long visit to various beaches included the inspection of operational deployments as well as the assessment of adherence to lockdown regulations.