In the context of the rising rates of Covid-19 infections and related deaths throughout the province, we urge all Gauteng-based residents to as far as one's circumstances allow, undertake a voluntary lockdown, which entails the following:

1) Returning to your place of employment only when necessary and mandated by your employer;

2) As an employer, only issuing the mandate for employees to return to the work space once absolutely necessary and when work cannot be effectively undertaken from outside of the office space;

3) Shopping for grocery items once a month, and not returning to shops unless it is of absolute necessity. This includes, but is not limited to:

a) Going to the chemist for medication/vitamins,
b) Going to the grocery store for food and/or other vital items, when these run out at your home,
c) Shopping for items of clothing that are necessary and seasonal,
d) When shopping, ensuring that where possible, only one member of the family shops,
e) Sanitising your hands upon entry and exit of the shop,
f) Touching only items that you are planning to buy - otherwise, looking at the item without touching it,
g) Spending a maximum of 30 minutes in a store,
h) Maintaining and respecting social distancing in stores and shopping centres, and
i) Not removing your mask to eat/drink in the store or shopping centre;

4) Not visiting family and friends for social purposes;  

5) Supporting those within our community who have tested positive for Covid-19. This could include:

a)    Ensuring that community members help deliver groceries and medication to the infected person's door
       without going inside or helping to cook for an infected person, but ensuring that no direct contact is
       made and that dishes are either 'throw-away', or are properly washed and sanitised before and after usage,
b)    If living an area where there are communal taps, ensuring that the infected person has water brought to
       their doorstep, but being careful to ensure that one sanitses before and after touching buckets or bottles
       that one may take to or from the home,
c)    Ensuring that those who are ill and that those who aren't understand that it is their responsibility to stop the
       spread within communities. So for instance, if communal toilets are being used, each person should be
       aware of sanitisation processes using a mixture of 4 teaspoons of bleach per litre of water to wipe surfaces
       and taps before and after usage,
       neighbours should not be visiting each others' homes and children from different households should not be
       playing together outside,
d)    Ensuring that those who are ill are not made to feel alone, vulnerable and stigmatised. Send them
       messages of support via Whatsapp, call them, or speak them from at least several metres away - you, as
       well as the infected person should wear mask, and they should preferably speak to you from inside their
       home, while you should be outside. Make sure that those who are ill have a set of emergency numbers to
       call - if they fall seriously ill, and are unable to call an ambulance or doctor themselves, neighbours can do
       so on their behalf, and
e)   Encouraging others to be forthright with their results, lessening the stigma around testing positive;

6) Engaging in conversation and action within communities, on topics including, but not limited to:

a) The re-opening of schools,
b) Community quarantine sites,
c) Food relief and sustainability measures,
d) Community-based initiatives related to education on Covid-19,
e)     Monitoring municipal spending of emergency funds,
f)      Monitoring of potential price inflation for basic goods, services and protective gear and reporting it to the
        relevant authorities, and
g)     Monitoring if businesses and institutions adhere to restrictions and naming and shaming them if they do
        not.

7) Abiding by those regulations promulgated by national government;

8) Sharing accurate information related to Covid-19, including the latest statistics, lessons in precaution and methods of curbing the spread;

9) Following the rules relating to self-isolation and quarantine; and

10) Sharing this pledge with your family members, friends and constituencies.