Coronavirus: Shelves are empty in Makro, Pick n Pay and more due to panic buying

Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster on Sunday due to an increase in numbers of patients testing positive of the Coronvuris (Covid-19). 

Since this announcement, a wave of panic has hit the country and South Africans have taken to the stores to start panic buying.

Toilet paper, hand sanitiser and non-perishable food are in particularly high demand, and retailers have indicated that some items are now in limited supply.

On social media, many photos and videos have surfaced showing the extent of customers panic buying that has led to empty or near-empty shelves.

In Strubens Valey, the local Makro has been filled with customers and ques have been seen going around the entire store.

Shoprite has also appealed to customers in a statement to only buy what they need in the wake of concerns over coronavirus-linked stockpiling.

There has also been empty shelves in many Woolworths and Pick n Pay's across the country. 

Stores have also started limiting the number of high-demand items per customer to ensure more widespread access to essential products.

However, Minister of Trade and Industry Ebrahim Patel has indicated that the recent restrictions imposed by president Ramaphosa are aimed at limiting the movement of people to and from South Africa, and should not impact the movement of goods and existing supply-chains.

South Africans have also taken to social media to appeal to their fellow locals that they should not follow the mass buying of toilet paper trend because there was a reason why Australians were panicking for this. 

A post by Elbi Dippenaar explains it by saying: "SA citizens saw Auzzies (sic) panic-buy Toilet paper without knowing why. Then they started panic buying. Now SA people are panic-buying toilet paper.....Do you even know why the Auzzies were nuts about the white gold? Their trees burned down and they have import issues now. So they cant make their own."

To see original post, click here. 

Here are some images:

Shelves were empty in many stores on Monday as people rushed to buy food and supplies following the president's declaration of a national state of disaster.

(Image supplied by: Aron Hyman)

 

Image

( Image by: Siti Hawa Noor, Twitter)

 

View image on Twitter

Image by: @Libonge3, Twitter)

 

Written by: Gabriella Steyn.

Guzzle Media