Health minister said the deaths occurred in Western Cape province, home of Cape Town South Africa’s military was helping to enforce measures that include bans on sales of cigarettes and alcohol, even dog-walking JOHANNESBURG: A shaken South Africa on Friday announced its first two deaths from the coronavirus as the country’s cases rose above 1,000 and a three-week lockdown began, with some police screaming at the homeless on emptying streets. The health minister said the deaths occurred in Western Cape province, home of Cape Town. South Africa has the most virus cases in Africa, with the total across the continent now above 3,200. Security forces with megaphones screamed at people on the streets shortly after midnight in downtown Johannesburg, the country’s commercial hub. Homeless people scattered, looking for places to shelter, to the astonishment of residents who lined up on balconies and filmed the patrols with their mobile phones. One baton-wielding officer took chase. Some motorists were pursued, stopped and searched. “Go home,” security forces shouted. “You cannot be outside ... You are so selfish.” Around 3 a.m., sustained gunfire echoed through the streets. South Africa’s military was helping to enforce measures that include bans on sales of cigarettes and alcohol, even dog-walking. After daybreak, police and military forces again surrounded a few dozen homeless people in downtown Johannesburg close to the main train station. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, in full military uniform, on the eve of the lockdown told troops to be a “force of kindness” and reminded police that “our people are terrified right now and we should not do anything to make their situation worse.” People are meant to go outside only to obtain essentials such as groceries or medical care or to provide essential services. Public transport operates only during the usual rush hours, but complaints were reported of being charged double the price. Some shoppers ignored calls to keep at least a meter apart, jostling, as about 200 lined up outside a center in Vosloorus, a township east of Johannesburg. Some people were openly scared. One caller to a popular morning radio talk show dissolved into tears: “I feel there’s nothing we can do,” he said. Anxiety has been especially high among low-income South Africans squeezed into crowded townships with limited water supplies, sometimes with an extended family sharing a shack of corrugated metal and little income. Fears of an increase in domestic violence and rape have been expressed by civil society groups.