Western Cape Premier Alan Winde has warned that South Africa ‘cannot afford’ another lockdown, but should rather focus on creating a ‘safer environment’ in which economic activity could be continue without allowing Covid-19 infections to grow.
Responding to speculation about a new lockdown, Winde was quoted by News24 as saying: ‘Our economy cannot afford it. We’re getting poorer, we are losing jobs – we need to recover now.’
He added: ‘We will only recover, only make sure we claw back those jobs and the economy that we’ve lost, if we make a safer environment for this to happen.’
Winde said South Africans should ‘not let down our guard’.
He said there had to be a ‘deal’ between citizens and government to work together to avoid another rise in infections.
This would give society the room to ‘focus our energy on recovery, instead of spending too much time focusing, managing and preparing for a second wave’.
The report said health department figures showed there were 730 548 cumulative cases across the country, with Gauteng accounting for 31.4% of total cases, KwaZulu-Natal 16.9% and the Western Cape 16.2%.