Police Minister Bheki Cele made it clear last evening that provinces had to be abide by national regulations associated with the fight against Covid-19 and not try to go it alone.
Provinces could make representations on regulations, but all regulations were equally binding across the country.
Cele’s comment follows a statement by Western Cape Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities David Maynier on Wednesday in which, among other things, he said: ‘Cigarettes may be sold during the lockdown, but only together with essential goods.’
Cele said: ‘We urge business in Western Cape not to listen to wrong things. If it is not in the regulations, it is not allowed. For now, cigarettes are not sold. It does not matter where you are. That includes Western Cape.’
At the start of the lockdown, the government declared cigarettes ‘non-essential’ and their sale impermissible.
Some regulations have been relaxed, however. Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nkosasana Dlamini-Zuma announced various relaxations regarding people crossing provincial boundaries in order to attend funerals. She ‘clarified’ that all spaza shops could stay open, as well as food traders who had a permit from their municipality.
The government also announced a regulation to use the cellphone details of people who tested positive as a means of tracing others they may have been in proximity to.
Minister of Communications Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams insisted this did not amount to allowing the government to ‘spy’ on citizens.
Yesterday, South African Federation of Trade Unions general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi confirmed he had tested positive for Covid-19.
So far, 44 292 South Africans have been tested. Positive cases rose yesterday from 1 380 to 1 462. Two possible Covid-19 deaths were still to be verified. Deaths remain at five. Recoveries have risen from 31 to what Health Minister Zweli Mkhize described as ‘close to 45’.
In other virus-related news
- New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says current forecast models estimate that 16 000 people in the state are expected to die in the coming weeks, BBC reported. New York City is currently the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in North America. Cuomo announced that 2 373 people had died in the state, up from 1 941 the previous morning;
- New weekly US unemployment claims hit a record high of 6.6m as the effects of the pandemic bite. The BBC noted that the sudden increase in those signing up ‘is powerful evidence that the coronavirus crisis is an economic emergency’; World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus says confirmed cases of coronavirus infection will reach one million, with 50,000 deaths, in the next few days;
- The British Medical Association has issued ethical guidance for doctors in the front line having to make ‘agonising choices’ over who gets potentially life-saving treatments. The body said there needed to be an urgent public debate about the issue in these ‘unprecedented times’; and
- Brent crude rallied more than 30 per cent on rising hopes of a supply deal among major oil producers, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, to alleviate a price collapse triggered by the coronavirus outbreak, the Financial Times reported.