Cowplain couple admit 'things could be worse' after being stranded in South Africa during coronavirus lockdown

Joe McCue, 78, and his wife Margaret, 73, have been forced to take an extended vacation in Cape Town until the end of April when the restrictions are due to be lifted.

The couple have been left in their apartment overlooking Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated.

Joe confessed the pair were not exactly unhappy about having to stay in the country. ‘Things could be a lot worse, sunny days, plenty of food in the stores, no shortage of toilet rolls,’ he said.

‘We are very impressed at the way South Africans have adhered to the lockdown by staying in doors.

‘In South Africa you are only allowed out to go to the supermarket for food, the only other shops open are chemists and petrol stations. You cannot buy cigarettes or alcohol, when you enter the stores your hands are sprayed with sanitiser and the handles of the trolleys are wiped down before you can take one.

‘You are not allowed to walk round the complex so we get exercise by walking to the local store and back, there is no shortage of food over here and a wonderful selection of fruit.’

‘Also we are lucky we can FaceTime our family and friends on our iPads and we have downloaded The News to keep up with the local news in Pompey.’

The evenings spent in the apartment are also not too much of a chore. ‘We barbecue most evenings and watch the sunset, then we watch television which has BBC and ITV channels,’ Joe said.

Joe added: ‘We hope to get home sometime in May. Virgin Atlantic has been fabulous keeping us updated.’

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