President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday night invoked sweeping emergency powers as he announced a range of extraordinary interventions by government to try to curb the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.
Declaring the outbreak of Covid-19 a national state of disaster in terms of the Disaster Management Act, he said South Africa has the “knowledge, means and resources” to defeat the virus.
“It was Louis Pasteur who said that fortune favours the prepared mind,” said Ramaphosa.
“Our national response has been driven by an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) chaired and ably led by the Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize. The manner in which the IMC and the support teams have responded to this emergency has been both exemplary and reassuring, particularly in helping to quell public panic.”
As was announced on Sunday, the government has put a raft of emergency measures in place, and will make funding available to support their implementation. They include travel bans on visitors from high-risk countries; mandatory testing, self-isolation or quarantine for South African nationals returning from these countries; and strengthening surveillance, screening and testing at ports of entry into the Republic.
“Social distancing is critical if we are to contain the spread of COVID-19,” said President Ramaphosa.
Gatherings of more than 100 people are prohibited and mass celebrations of national days are cancelled.
Visits to all correctional centres are being suspended for 30 days with immediate effect. Non-essential international travel for government officials has been proscribed and non-essential domestic travel discouraged.
A total of 35 land ports and two sea ports are closed, as with schools that closed yesterday until after the Easter weekend. Universities and colleges also closed.
Next month will be Easter, a sacred period for a number of faiths and a time in which mass services and gatherings will take place.
The faith community should take decisions in this regard in the best interests of the health of their congregants and the country as a whole.
“All citizens should take charge of their own safety by observing measures such as frequent hand-washing with soap or hand-sanitizers and covering their noses or mouths with a tissues or flexed elbows when coughing or sneezing.
“I encourage all South Africans to acquaint themselves with the relevant preventative material. One of the greatest dangers at this time is ignorance and misinformation.
“We should stop spreading fake and unverified news, especially on social media. This can exacerbate an already tense national mood and damage the national effort.
“Let us lower the wing of compassion to those who are infected, and to those who have returned home from high-risk countries.
“Let us assist those in need and those more vulnerable, instead of shunning them. We will remain faithful to the values of tolerance and respect that define us as a people.
“This is a difficult time. And yet it is in times of adversity that our strength is revealed. We will act decisively, with determination and with purpose.
“We will act as a collective, for it is upon the actions of every South African that the success of our efforts depends.
“The Thuma Mina (send us) moment is upon us, perhaps as never before.”
