President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a two-week extension of the current national lockdown to slow the spread of the Covid-19 outbreak, cautioning that it would otherwise "consume" the country.
The lockdown, which was initially set to stretch until April 16, will now continue until the end of the month.
"I have to ask you to make even greater sacrifices," he said in a televised address.
Ramaphosa said it was clear that the lockdown, one of the strictest imposed anywhere in the world, had slowed the spread of the virus from daily increases of over 40 percent to only around four percent.
He gave the latest tally of infections as 1,934 and said the successes in slowing the infection rate would be lost if the lockdown was ended too soon or abruptly.
"We are only at the beginning of a monumental struggle that demands our every resource and every effort."
“We are learning both from the experiences of other countries and from the evidence we now have about the development of the pandemic in South Africa,” Ramaphosa said.
He said both make a clear and compelling case to proceed in a manner that is cautious and properly calibrated.
“Simply put, if we end the lockdown too soon or too abruptly, we risk a massive and uncontrollable resurgence of the disease. We risk reversing the gains we have made over the last few weeks and rendering meaningless the great sacrifices we have all made,” he added.
President Ramaphosa said that after careful consideration of the available evidence, the National Coronavirus Command Council has decided to extend the nation-wide lockdown by a further two weeks beyond the initial 21 days.
“This means that most of the existing lockdown measures will remain in force until the end of April,” he said.
Meanwhile, Eastern Cape Premier, Lubabalo Mabuyane welcomed the extension and also appealed to the people of the province to follow the regulations.
He called on people to play their part in the bid to stop the spread of covid19.
(Additional reporting by - African News Agency (ANA)
