Amendments to COVID-19 Regulations
During a media briefing by members of the National Command Council (NCC) in Pretoria on Thursday, 16 April, the rules pertaining to the second phase of the South African lockdown were set out.
Knysna Executive Deputy Mayor, Aubrey Tsengwa explained: “The second phase of South Africa’s national Covid-19 lockdown will be under rules only slightly altered from the initial hard lockdown, and these were stipulated by National Government earlier today, Thursday, 16 April.”
The following regulations were amended:
- Cooked food will still not be allowed to be sold during lockdown
- Still a total alcohol ban
- Cigarette sales remain banned
- Artisans now allowed to do emergency repair work for essential services include: Locksmiths; glaziers; roof repairers; plumbers; electricians
- Some hardware and car-part stores will be able to open – but only for emergency supplies. Essential goods will now include the hardware, components and supplies needed by tradespeople for emergency repairs at homes. Hardware and supplies needed by institutions deemed essential, such as hospitals, may also be sold same goes for suppliers of car parts for any vehicle used by a person engaged in essential services work.
Stores selling hardware products and vehicle components must maintain a register of persons buying essential goods, and must keep a record of a signed declaration from the buyer that goods are essential.
- Community watch groups, (Neighbourhood Watch) will not be allowed to patrol their neighbourhoods.
- Funeral rules remain unchanged
- Children may move between parents as long as the parent can produce a birth certificate.
- More call centres may open, including those for retailers (and their store cards). The new regulations stipulate that call centres “necessary to provide health, safety, social support, government and financial services, debt restructuring for consumers of retailers, and access to short-term insurance policies as a result of reduced income or loss of income” may operate.
- The rule that goods imported from high-risk SARS-Cov-2 countries must be sanitised in port has been revoked.
- Some mines will be allowed to reopen under strict conditions including private transport for mineworkers.
Tsengwa concluded by thanking all Greater Knysna residents for adhering to the strict regulations of the lockdown and said: “Our Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said during the briefing that when we do stop the lockdown, we cannot do it abruptly – that today it’s complete lockdown and tomorrow it’s open completely. We have to phase in, so that there is an orderly move towards normality. I ask each of us to adhere to the rules and regulations in place to ensure the safety of all, especially our vulnerable. Stay at home not only for your sake, but also for the sake of your loved ones.”
The public can view updates on the lockdown on the municipal website or the provincial and national government websites.