Ramaphosa asked to explain level 3 lockdown changes
President Cyril Ramaphosa has come under fire from opposition parties over the lack of clarity regarding lockdown levels and changes.
Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen has urged Ramaphosa to give South Africans a better idea of when regulations will be relaxed and when they can expect level 2 or level 1 to be implemented.
This follows after ministers have alluded to altered regulations as part of an “advanced level 3 lockdown” which could see sit-down restaurants and personal care businesses such as nail salons opening.
“There is currently a great deal of uncertainty around what is and is not permitted in level 3,” Steenhuisen said.
“This has been exacerbated by speculation that further changes to level 3 are being considered. Levels 2 and 1 appear to exist in name only, as the public has zero information on what they entail.”
Steenhuisen said that the impression given by the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) is that they are as unaware as the rest of the country about a move to lower lockdown levels.
He said that clarity around the timing of lockdown level migration would assist businesses and citizens in planning for future operations and activities.
“Surviving in a pandemic is hard enough without the additional challenge of an uncertain, inconsistent and often incoherent policy environment,” Steenhuisen said.
“Better still would be for government to abandon this lockdown altogether, and to rather provide a reasonable, sensible set of safety regulations, all of which should be directly related to reducing transmission of the virus.”
He argued that this approach would improve compliance and enforcement and would allow people to resume economic and leisure activities safely.
Restaurants under advanced level 3 lockdown
Small Business Development Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has stated that a decision on the reopening of sit-down restaurants is imminent.
Ntshavheni said the decision was necessary due to a lack of relief funds in the hospitality sector.
“The impact on the economy was severe and we went to cabinet after the survey was done and said we don’t have enough relief measures to support small businesses,” she said.
“We are better off supporting businesses as they come back to the economy because now you are dealing with the viability of businesses,” Ntshavheni said.
The Restaurant Association of South Africa (RASA) estimated that restaurants employ around 800,000 people in South Africa, and lobby group the Restaurant Collective has recently stated the industry is ready and desperate to open.
Fast-food operators have been able to provide delivery services for some time, and under current lockdown level 3, restaurants were able to reopen on 1 June for collections and deliveries.
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