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President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced the further relaxation of lockdown restrictions as the country moves to Alert Level 1 from midnight on Sunday.
Declaring that “we have weathered the storm”, Ramaphosa said Cabinet took the decision on Wednesday, as rates of infections, hospitalisations and deaths come down.
Curfew hours were also moved from midnight to 4 am while the sale of alcohol would be allowed from Monday to Friday between 9 am and 5 pm.
“We are now ready for a new phase in our response to the pandemic. We have withstood the coronavirus storm,” Ramaphosa said.
He said it was time to move to what will become our “new normal”, by removing the many restrictions on economic activity.
The President said that the move to Alert Level 1 will mean the further easing of restrictions on gatherings, with social, political, and religious gathering now allowed, subject to conditions.
The number of people now allowed to attend funerals has been increased from 50 to 100 but night vigils remain restricted.
Travel restrictions were also relaxed, and international travel allowed from 1 October under strict conditions and only to countries that have low infection rates.
The President said South Africa was also participating in an initiative to pool resources for the development and distribution of a vaccine.
He added that the country was also supporting several vaccine programmes, in a bid to access these vaccines at lower costs.
“No country should be left behind,” Ramaphosa said.
The President said that the Special Investigating Unit has tabled an interim report to him on the investigation into fraud and corruption in the awarding of tenders for Covid19 Personal Protective Equipment.
He said as the SIU concluded its countrywide investigation, more information would be released.
Ramaphosa concluded by warning that any second wave of infections would be devastating for the country and urged South Africans to continue to take every possible precaution to avoid infecting others.
