On Thursday, 2 September 2021, the South African government has approved the extension of the National State of Disaster to the 15th of October 2021.
Prior to this extension, the previous State of Disaster regulations was extended from 15 July to 15 August. The current changes were gazetted under section 3 of the Disaster Management Act, of 2002 in terms of section 27(5)(c).
Minister Mondli Gungubele confirmed: “In other words, the protocols as they pertain are going to continue”.
Many, however, are arguing that the Disaster Management Act gives the government complete freedom to act as they wish by extending the State of Disaster without the oversight of parliament.
What to expect from this Covid-19 lockdown level 3
While the country will remain under alert level 3 lockdown, Gungubele said the extension of lockdown restrictions all depends on the number of Covid-19 infections.
“Whether it is going to be eased or not it depends a lot on the rate of infections, the degrees at which facilities are coping and mainly on South Africans sticking with non-pharmaceutical measures. And the family meeting will depend on what comes out of the National Coronavirus Command Council [NCCC] meeting,” he said.
Minister Gungubele did reveal that the government is considering on vaccine passport so that South Africa can open up activities such as live sports.
On Wednesday, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) reported that there were 9,544 new Covid-19 cases that had been identified in SA. This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 2,787,203.
Meanwhile, the amount of administered vaccines in the country has reached 12,568,525 doses.
If you or a loved one has not yet received the vaccine and would like to, be sure to register here: www.vaccine.enroll.health.gov.za