South Africa’s lockdown extended by two weeks

President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed the extension in an address to the nation on Thursday evening.

He also confirmed the number of positive cases now stands at 1934.

That means the lockdown will now end on 30 April instead of the initial 21-day period.

He said after careful consideration of the available evidence the National Coronavirus Command Council opted to prolong the lockdown.

 “Simply put, if we end the lockdown too soon or too abruptly, we risk a massive and uncontrollable resurgence of the disease,” Ramaphosa said.

“We risk reversing the gains we have made over the last few weeks, and rendering meaningless the great sacrifices we have all made.”

“We will use the coming days to evaluate how we will embark on risk-adjusted measures that can enable a phased recovery of the economy, allowing the return to operation of certain sectors under strictly controlled conditions.”

In addition, Ramaphosa also confirmed that he along with the Deputy President, Ministers and Deputy Ministers will each take a one-third cut in their salaries for the next three months.

“This portion of their salaries will be donated to the Solidarity Fund.

"We are calling on other public office bearers and executives of large companies to make a similar gesture and to further increase the reach of this national effort,” Ramaphosa said. 

Listen to the full address here: