Johannesburg - President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned that reckless behaviour over the festive season could prove disastrous for the country if Covid-19 protective measures continued to be flagrantly disobeyed.
Ramaphosa was speaking on Tuesday night as he imposed stricter regulations for the country, which were enforced from midnight in a bid to contain the spread during the current second wave of infections.
The new measures included the declaration of the Garden Route and Sarah Baartman districts as the second hot spots of the virus after Nelson Mandela Bay, the extension of the curfew and the reduction of trading hours for liquor outlets, as alcohol was identified as an influential contributor to the spread.
With daily cases increasing rapidly in the past two weeks and averaging around 8 000 in the past few days, South Africa’s Covid-19 total cases had risen to 866 127 by Tuesday night.
“We are getting very close to 900 000 and we will soon hit a million. These figures are a cause for great concern. There can no longer be any doubt that South Africa has entered the second wave of coronavirus infections which we have been talking about,” Ramaphosa said.
The Eastern Cape, Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng have been identified as the leading provinces in the spread.
Ramaphosa said the second wave had seen infections being predominantly among young people due to overcrowded social gatherings where protective measures were ignored.
He highlighted the infection of around 1 000 young people from Gauteng during the post-matric celebration event held in Ballito north of Durban.
“What we don’t know yet is how many more people each of them has infected. It is sad that up to 300 families could in turn be infected just from this one event. The sad truth about this pandemic is that festivals, concerts and parties, which should be occasions of fun and celebration, are proving to be sources of infection and illness or even death,” he said.
Throughout the festive season, the national curfew will be imposed from 11pm to 4am, while all permitted gatherings have been reduced to 200 for outdoor events and 100 for indoor events, with the total number not permitted to be more than 50% of the capacity of the given venue.
All alcohol consumption in recreational spaces, including parks and beaches, will be strictly prohibited during the festive season.
Beaches and public areas with the highest rate of infection, including the whole of the Eastern Cape, would be closed from December 16 to January 3, while in KwaZulu-Natal these would be completely restricted on the traditionally busy days during the festive season.
Retail liquor outlets would be permitted to operate between 10am and 6pm from Monday to Thursday.
Ramaphosa said the festive season was posing a threat to both the health and well-being of the nation, and the attempts to ensure the recovery of the economy.
“We need to once again adhere to the basic health protocols. We have been here before and we can do it again. If we do not do things differently this festive season, we will greet the new year with sorrow with many of our relatives, friends and co-workers infected. Some will get severely ill and some will die. Unless we do things differently, this will be the last Christmas for many South Africans,” Ramaphosa warned.
Ramaphosa said that he and the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) ministers would immediately enforce stricter measures if people continued to disobey the regulations.
“All of them will be on standby to be able to meet with immediate effect if the situation across the country deteriorates,” he said.
Political Bureau