President Cyril Ramaphosa . (GCIS)
President Cyril Ramaphosa is scheduled to address the nation at 7pm on Sunday on developments in South Africa’s risk-adjusted strategy to manage the spread of Covid-19.
Ramaphosa’s address follows recent meetings of Cabinet, the National Coronavirus Command Council and the president’s coordinating council, which considered the prospects for the country’s progression from level 4 to level 3 of the national lockdown. Nearly two months into the lockdown, the voices calling for its end have become louder, none as strident as that of the Democratic Alliance, which now has four court cases on the go, challenging different aspects of the lockdown.
In his previous address to the nation on May 13, the president announced that “most of the country” would be placed under alert level three at the end of May. However, certain metros — where the vast majority of infections have occurred — will remain at level four.
“As I said before, some areas of the country may be designated at a particular alert level, while others will be designated at another level … for now, infections are concentrated in a few metros and districts across the country. It is important that we retain restrictions in those areas, and restrict travel out of these areas to other parts of the country,” Ramaphosa said.
Note: This address is scheduled to begin at 7pm.