The government expects it could lift South Africa’s Covid-19 lockdown entirely by February or March 2022.
This suggestion formed part of discussions at a Cabinet meeting on the relaxation of lockdown measures last week, leading up to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement that the country would be moved to an adjusted level 2 lockdown.
Two sources close to the matter have confirmed to Sunday newspaper Rapport that the meeting’s participants also floated the possibility of lifting the lockdown by February or March next year.
To allow for the implementation of Covid-19 lockdown measures to curb the spread of the virus, the government has had to repeatedly extend the national state of disaster under the Disaster Management Act (DMA) since March 2020.
In a written response to a question in Parliament this past week, Ramaphosa said the government could lift the state of disaster once organs of state had developed sustainable regulatory measures for controlling Covid-19 without the need for DMA regulations.
“Measures must be infused into policies and regulations to normalise Covid-19 preventative measures in the society,” Ramaphosa wrote.
“The current measures contained in the regulations for dealing with the disaster in the context of the risk-adjusted strategy remain necessary to limit the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.
