New Frame photojournalists document the last days of lockdown at level four as South Africa prepares to resume schooling, economic activity and religious gatherings from June.
South Africans are still struggling with the Covid-19 pandemic and what some view as the arbitrary enforcement of lockdown regulations. Next week, schools reopen and small religious gatherings will be allowed.
This week, Muslims across the land celebrated Eid in their homes when the new moon appeared on Monday 25 May.
South Africa is preparing to not only meet the threat of Covid-19 but also confront an unprecedented economic recession that is already ravaging the world’s superpowers.
As the first cold front of the season blows in from the Cape and across the escarpment, we face possibly one of the toughest winters of our lives. Our best hope lies in physical distancing and social unity. And perhaps the most effective treatment we have for this virus and the social ills it has laid bare, is the treatment we afford one another.
20 May 2020: Time to open at a dry cleaner in Rocky Street, Yeoville, Johannesburg. (Photograph by Madelene Cronjé)20 May 2020: A tailor starts work early in Yeoville, Johannesburg. (Photograph by Madelene Cronjé)27 May 2020: Painted circles on the ground at Mabuya Secondary School in Daveyton indicate where students must stand when they get screened for Covid-19 in the mornings. (Photograph by Ihsaan Haffejee)27 May 2020: Staff members stand outside the classroom prepared for matric pupils at Mabuya Secondary School in Daveyton. (Photograph by Ihsaan Haffejee)
(Left to Right) 27 May 2020: A sign on a blackboard in one of the classrooms at Mabuya Secondary School in Daveyton as the school prepares for the arrival of matric pupils on 1 June. (Photograph by Ihsaan Haffejee). 27 May 2020: The old Hartbees drive-in theatre in Schoemansville at Hartbeespoort Dam. Drive-in movie theatres around the world are experiencing newfound popularity as it is easy to practise social distancing in cars. (Photograph by John Hogg)
27 May 2020: Corona Station on the R511 from Brits to Thabazimbi in North West. (Photograph by John Hogg)
(Left to right) 14 May 2020: Government-funded food parcels are delivered to the Methodist Church in Alexandra for distribution to vulnerable families. 14 May 2020: Each food parcel contains a source of carbohydrates, fat and protein and these parcels had butternut added later. (Photographs by James Oatway)14 May 2020. A man wraps a load of food parcels at a depot in Roodepoort. The Solidarity Fund is rolling out thousands of food parcels to vulnerable families around South Africa. Picture: James Oatway.20 May 2020: Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department officers on foot and in vehicles, some in plain clothes, confiscate the wares of street vendors in Yeoville. (Photograph by James Oatway)
20 May 2020: Police officers and soldiers disperse a crowd of youths gathered along Main Street between Snake Park and Dobsonville in Soweto to exercise. Officers were concerned that the children were not wearing masks. (Photographs by Oupa Nkosi)20 May 2020: The youth of Dobsonville Gardens and Snake Park in Soweto train on Main Street during the allotted three hours in the morning during level four of the national lockdown. Most don’t wear masks and there is a danger of being hit by passing vehicles. (Photograph by Oupa Nkosi)25 May 2020: A Muslim family performing the Eid prayer in Lenasia, south of Johannesburg, at the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. (Photograph by Ihsaan Haffejee)27 May 2020: Quinton Thomas, 45, sits at a window reading his Bible. Community Chest chief executive Lorenzo Davids invited a group of homeless people to spend the night in its offices as wind, rain and freezing temperatures hit Cape Town. (Photograph by Barry Christianson)27 May 2020: For the sake of privacy, many of the 180 homeless people brought their tents into the temporarily repurposed Community Chest offices on Bree Street in Cape Town. (Photograph by Barry Christianson)27 May 2020: A mural at the Rynfield Mental Wellness and Recovery Centre in Benoni. For those struggling with mental health impairment, it is now more important than ever to keep up with treatment. (Photograph by John Hogg)
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