The South African government has eased restrictions on certain economic activities as the country moves to an advanced level three lockdown, authorities have said.
In a broadcast national address on 17 June 2020, South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the decision was reached after discussions with industry representatives on stringent prevention protocols, and after advice from scientists and consultation with Premiers.
“When I announced that the country would be moving to alert level 3 from the 1st of June, I said that we would be giving consideration to re-opening other sectors of the economy if the necessary safety precautions could be put in place and maintained,” said Ramaphosa.
Establishments and activities allowed to resume include restaurants that offer ‘sit-down’ meals, accredited and licensed accommodation, with the exception of home sharing accommodation like AirBnB, conferences and meetings for business purposes and in line with restrictions on public gatherings, cinemas and theatres, to be aligned to limitations on the gathering of people, Casinos, personal care services, including hairdressers and beauty services as well as non-contact sports such as golf, tennis, cricket and others.
“Contact sports will be allowed only for training and modified activities with restricted use of facilities,” added the President.
Ramaposa also said that in each instance, there were specific and stringent safety requirements agreed upon and had to be in place prior to a business re-opening, and protocols that needed to be strictly adhered to for the businesses to remain open.
Many South African businesses stopped operating on the March 27,2020, when the country’s lockdown came into effect, have not yet been able to re-open under current restrictions.
