Following an upsurge of panic-buying in Stellenbosch, several pharmacies and stores are restricting the number of hand sanitisers, hand wipes, and medical face masks that customers are allowed to purchase at a time, as the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases rise in SA.
Some Stellenbosch residents are said to be stockpiling these products in response to President Ramaphosa’s nation address where he declared a national state of disaster on 15 March.
Stelkor Campus Pharmacy in the Neelsie has seen both the high demand of hand sanitisers and an increase in the price of medical face masks, according to Monique le Roux, a pharmacist assistant at Stelkor.
“Our hand sanitiser is sold out, and the supplier is out of stock. The masks are also expensive now,” said Le Roux. She explained that masks usually retail at R1 per mask. With suppliers struggling to keep up, they currently sell for up to R20.
“There’s a lot of people coming in asking for immune boosters because of the virus, but the product most people panic-buy is definitely hand sanitiser,” said Le Roux.
Empty shelves #CoronaVirus #HandSanitiser
Aunty fighting about why they don't have stock?
Cos there is a world-wide shortage? At least your suburb's kids have running water
Large amount of #SouthAfricans don't.
Get creative …entrepreneurs are born in tough conditions … pic.twitter.com/5fJBKv9Ifk— DeviSankareeGovender (@Devi_HQ) March 9, 2020
Pharmacy retailer, Clicks, also implemented restricted buying with purchases to a limit of six essential items per customer.
“This is on all our front shop products including hand sanitisers, toilet paper, vitamins, children’s medicine and pain relief,” Rachel Wrigglesworth, Clicks chief commercial officer, said in a statement.
Wrigglesworth assured customers that Clicks has increased restocking orders across all high demand categories.
Clicks management are working closely with suppliers to ensure that stock gets to stores as quickly as possible to meet the customer demand, said Wrigglesworth.
“We reiterate our commitment to holding prices on hygiene products despite this sustained surge in customer demand,” added Wrigglesworth.
Prof Ashraf Kagee from Stellenbosch University’s Psychology department told MatieMedia that people panic-buy as a way to assert control in uncertain times.
“Panic-buying and stockpiling is a way to ward off the threat of the undesired and unknown,” said Kagee.
According to Kagee, panic buying may slow down with the assurance of the government that products will remain on the shelves during the uncertain months which lie ahead.
“Panic buying will slow and a bigger sense of community spirit and care for one another will be made possible,” said Kagee.
By Rachele Button, Jenna Lemmer, Hloni Manare, Megan Muller and Callan Riddles