Charles Molele
Faced with a sharp rise in coronavirus cases, President Cyril Ramaphosa imposed a nationwide lockdown for 21 days on Monday evening, telling everyone to stay indoors, with a few exceptions.
Speaking to the nation during a live television address, Ramaphosa said as from midnight on Thursday March 26 2020 all South Africans will have to stay at home until midnight Thursday April 26 2020.
Ramaphosa said people could only leave their homes under very strictly controlled circumstances such as seeking medical care, buying food or medicine, or collecting a social grant.
The nationwide lockdown has been enacted in terms of the Disaster Management Act, said Ramaphosa in a televised address.
“The nation-wide lockdown is necessary to fundamentally disrupt the chain of transmission across society,” said Ramaphosa.
“I have accordingly directed the South African National Defence Force be deployed to support the South African Police Service in ensuring that the measures we are announcing are implemented.”
“This nationwide lockdown will be accompanied by a public health management programme which will significantly increase screening, testing, contact tracing and medical management.”
During the lockdown, all shops and businesses will be closed, except for pharmacies, laboratories, banks, essential financial and payment services, including the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), supermarkets, petrol stations and health-care providers.
Ramaphosa said companies that were essential to the production and transportation of food, basic goods and medical supplies will remain open.
“We will publish a full list of the categories of businesses that should remain open,” he said.
“Companies whose operations require continuous processes such as furnaces, underground mine operations will be required to make arrangements for care and maintenance to avoid damage to their continuous operations.”
Ramaphosa added that government’s interventions would also include supporting the vulnerable through a Solidarity Fund, which, which South African businesses, organisations and individuals, and members of the international community, can contribute to.
The Solidarity Fund will be chaired by businesswoman Gloria Serobe.
Serobe will be deputised by Adrian Enthoven.
“The Fund will focus efforts to combat the spread of the virus, help us to track the spread, care for those who are ill and support those whose lives are disrupted. The Fund will complement what we are doing in the public sector,” said Ramaphosa.
“The Fund has a website – www.solidarityfund.co.za – and you can begin to deposit monies into the account tonight. The Fund will be administered by a reputable team of people, drawn from financial institutions, accounting firms and government. It will fully account for every cent contributed and will publish the details on the website. It will have a board of eminent South Africans to ensure proper governance.”
According to Ramaphosa, government will provide a seed capital of R150 million as a matter of urgency, while the private sector has already pledged to support this fund with financial contributions in the coming period.
“We will be spending money to save lives and to support the economy,” said Ramaphosa.
“In this regard, we must applaud the commitment made in this time of crisis by the Rupert and Oppenheimer families of R1 billion each to assist small businesses and their employees affected by the coronavirus pandemic. We are concerned that there are a number of businesses that are selling certain goods at excessively high prices. This cannot be allowed.”
In his address, Ramaphosa also announced that a number of additional measures would be implemented with immediate effect to strengthen prevention measures.
Some of those measures are that South African citizens and residents arriving from high-risk countries will automatically be placed under quarantine for 14 days.
“Non-South Africans arriving on flights from high-risk countries we prohibited a week ago will be turned back,” said Ramaphosa.
All international flights to Lanseria Airport will be temporarily suspended. Meanwhile, international travellers who arrived in South Africa after 9 March 2020 from high-risk countries would be confined to their hotels until they have completed a 14-day period of quarantine.
