President Cyril Ramaphosa held meetings with the Presidential Coordinating Council (PCC) on Tuesday (22 March) to discuss the country’s next step in addressing the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
The PCC consists of ministers, premiers, executive mayors of metropolitan municipalities and the leadership of the South African Local Government Association.<\/p>\n
The government has called for public comment on proposed regulations to replace the state of disaster on a long-term basis – including new rules around gatherings and returning to the workplace.<\/p>\n
The national state of disaster is currently scheduled to last until 15 April 2022, although it is likely to be extended past this date as the government needs additional time to consider responses to its lockdown proposals.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the meeting, Western Cape premier Alan Winde said he would push for the state of disaster to be lifted immediately.<\/p>\n
“South Africans, especially those who are unemployed, should not have to wait until 15 April (and likely longer) because the National Government has simply not done their job in time, despite having months to prepare.<\/p>\n
“It is concerning to me that despite public utterances that the priority of the National Government is to create jobs, its actions seem to show otherwise. It’s time to bridge this gap and show the courage needed to get our economy growing again.”<\/p>\n
Winde said that maintaining the status quo will continue to damage the economy – even if most lockdown restrictions have been lifted.<\/p>\n
“The events industry, in particular, continues to be impacted by a non-sensical restriction on the size of the gathering. Many countries have lifted these restrictions some time ago.”<\/p>\n
Proposed restrictions\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n On Wednesday (16 March), the Department of Health published proposed regulations under the National Health Act which will effectively act as a long-term replacement to South Africa\u2019s state of disaster Covid regulations.<\/p>\n This is part of the government\u2019s transition plans from the current state of disaster which has been in effect for over two years, the department said in an accompanying statement.<\/p>\n The new regulations will effectively act as a new instrument for the government to manage the current Covid pandemic and future pandemics.<\/p>\n As such, the 157-page document covers dozens of major issues including entry to and from the country, the wearing of masks, vaccinations and the management of the deceased.<\/p>\n Some of the key proposals highlighted by the department include:<\/p>\n Family meeting\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Responding to questions in parliament on Thursday, the president said public consultations with leaders from different sectors of society are underway and that he will address the nation on the process in the coming days.<\/p>\n “The health regulations have been published and there are processes that we are engaged in and are engaging with various leaders.<\/p>\n “We have met with traditional leaders; we have met with various other leaders, as well as religious leaders and we are talking precisely about this and I can assure you again, we are going to lift the state of disaster and we are going to put in place health regulations \u2013 regulations that will enable everyone to feel safe but at the same time, we want to boost vaccination,” Ramaphosa said.<\/p>\n The president said the interests of citizens, when it comes to their lives and livelihoods, has been his greatest preoccupation for the better part of the last two years.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd as I have said, I want to see the state of disaster coming to an end but I am not going to be reckless and I am going be orderly and in days, I am going to address the nation and explain precisely where we are headed to and how we should traverse this new route that we are going on,” he said.<\/p>\n\n
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