President Ramaphosa called a ‘family meeting’ (addressed the nation over national TV) last night, September 30, to let South Africa know that we are entering adjusted Level 1 of lockdown on day 474 of the restrictions caused by the pandemic in South Africa.

This relaxation of restrictions will have an effect on hospitality establishments.

With effect from midnight last night:

*The curfew is adjusted. Curfew now runs from 24h00 to 04h00. Non-essential establishments should close by 23h00 to allow staff and patrons to get home in time for curfew.

*At meetings and gatherings, the maximum number of people inside an indoor venue is increased from 250 to 750, and outdoors from 500 to 2 000. Smaller venues may use only 50% of their capacity.

*The sale of alcohol reverts to the normal licence conditions. No alcohol is to be sold after 23h00.

President Ramaphosa spoke about vaccination certificates, saying that these are receiving the attention of the government, and will be developed in line with international best practice. He gave no timeline for the certificates and hinted that they might become necessary for people to enter certain venues.

He also said the government would now scale up its vaccination efforts, launching the “Vuma Vaccination Weekends” campaign, in which eligible adults can now get vaccinated over a weekend, starting the weekend of October 2 and 3.

The President said he had yesterday discussed with his British counterpart, Prime Minister Boris Johnson the topic of the red list status that South Africa currently has in the UK. This is affecting South Africa’s tourism industry significantly as the UK is the biggest inbound tourism market. It is also affecting trade with the UK, South Africa’s biggest trade partner. He said both he and Johnson were hopeful of a positive outcome when the decision was reviewed.

Ramaphosa ended: “We follow science…vaccination is our best defence.”