Coronavirus – South Africa: Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma on gazetted amendments to Coronavirus Covid-19 Alert level 1 directions

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Following the statement by President Ramaphosa on 30 December 2021, the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma gazetted amendments to Adjusted Level 1 Covid-19 regulations, from midnight (30 December 2021). The Minister of CoGTA is designated under section 3 and 27(2) of the Disaster Management Act, 2002 (Act No. 57 of 2002).

This decision follows the Cabinet decision of 30 September 2021 to move the country to Alert Level 1, follows meetings of the National Coronavirus Command Council and the President’s Coordinating Council.

Cabinet made the decision to further ease the regulations following a sustained decrease in infections, hospitalisation and covid related deaths following the Delta variant, and an increase in Vaccination.

The following amendment are now applicable under Alert Level 1:

• Curfew: the curfew has been lifted for now, and government will closely monitor the effects going forward.
• Gatherings: The maximum number of people permitted to gather indoors is increased to 1000, and the maximum number of people permitted to gather outdoors is 2000. Where the venue is too small to accommodate these numbers with appropriate social distancing, then no more than 50 per cent of the capacity of the venue may be used. This includes religious services, political events and social gatherings, as well as restaurants, bars, taverns and similar places.
• The sale of alcohol: permitted  for both off-site and on-site consumption, as per normal licence provisions.
• Masks: The wearing of masks in public places is still mandatory, and failure to wear a mask when required remains a criminal offence.

We thank all South African who have continued to support government efforts to contain the pandemic. We urge them to continue to do so until the pandemic is completely under control.

We urge those who are not yet vaccinated from the age of 12 years to so urgently in an effort to mitigate the challenges brought by Covid-19.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of South African Government.