A total of 14.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccinations have been administered in South Africa to date and over seven million people have been vaccinated.

President Cyril Ramaphosa made this announcement during his address to the nation earlier this evening (September 12) where he said the country would move from alert level 3 to alert level 2 lockdown.

He emphasised the need for vaccinations, noting that Government had taken steps to make it easier for people to access vaccination sites wherever they are.
 
“We now have more than 3 000 public and private vaccination sites across the country, and most private sites will vaccinate any member of the public free, whether you have health insurance or not,” said Ramaphosa.

He added: “The sooner we are vaccinated, the sooner we can welcome tourists.”

Under level 2, the easing of restrictions will make it easier for the leisure and business tourism sectors, as well as the hospitality industry, to do business.

The new regulations, effective from midnight tonight, include:

• The hours of curfew will now start at 23h00 and end at 04h00.
• Non-essential establishments like restaurants, bars and fitness centres will need to close by 22h00. This is to allow their employees and patrons to travel home before the start of the curfew.
• All gatherings will be limited to a maximum of 250 people indoors and 500 people outdoors.  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 from retail outlets for off-site consumption will be permitted between 10h00 and 18h00 from Monday to Friday.
  Alcohol sales for on-site consumption will be permitted as per licence conditions up to 22h00.
• Alcohol consumption remains prohibited in public spaces.

These measures will be reviewed in two weeks’ time depending on the state of the pandemic.