"Day 666 of the 21 Day Lockdown:" South Africa Is Still Under a National State of Disaster

• South Africa is approaching the two-year mark since the government implement the National State of Disaster
• The National of State of Disaster has been used to legalise Covid19 restrictions and regulations during the pandemic
• The current state of disaster is expected to come to an end on Saturday, 15 January, however, the government may extend it again

JOHANNESBURG - South Africa is only two months away from reaching the two-year mark of dealing and living in the coronavirus pandemic with limits and restrictions.

As of Monday, 10 January 2022, it would have been 666 days since the national state of disaster was pronounced and life has not been the same for South Africans since then.

With the state of the disaster in place, the South African government has implemented a number of Lockdown rules and regulations that determined the movement of people as well as making it illegal for anyone to be in public without a mask, reports BusinessInsider.

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The lockdown regulations have had an impact on South Africa's economy, with some companies being unable to fully operate or continue to be operational as a result. It also resulted in South Africans being unable to buy certain items such as roast chickens, alcohol and cigarettes.

South Africans were also restricted from getting haircuts or jogging and a curfew was also put in place. The South African National Defence Force was also deployed in the early days of the National State of Disaster to ensure that South Africans were following the strict lockdown rules.

With time, regulations and restrictions have eased and as it stands, the state of disaster is mainly being used to criminalise not wearing masks in public, ban drinking in public and maintain the restriction of indoor and outdoor activities.

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The State of Disaster is expected to lapse on Saturday, 15 January if the government chooses not to extend it. The recent extension was announced on 9 December, 2021 by Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele, reports BusinessTech.

There is currently no indication whether the government is planning to extend the state of disaster again.

Opposition parties against the national state of disaster

The Democratic Alliance has been advocating for the government to abandon the state of disaster for over year. Just recently the party's leader John Steenhuisen sounded the call for restrictions to be lifted such as curfew, which happened on 31 December.

Speaking in a radio interview on 702, Steehuisen stated the government should consider ending the state of disaster in January, 2022.

South Africans says we have been in a state of disaster for 27 years

@shaioren said:

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"And an ANC state of disaster for 26 years."

@Black_MermaidZA said:

"It's been longer than that, since 1675."

@BaneleMvambi said:

"Day 666 of the 21 day Lockdown."

@RaeesaK said:

"Fitting number. It has been hell."

Curfew lifted and New Lockdown rules

In other related news, Briefly News previously reported that on 30 December the office of President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the curfew has been lifted and new lockdown restrictions have been put in place.

The newly gazetted restrictions state that no more than 1 000 people may attend an indoor gathering and alcohol sale restrictions have been lifted. This set of relaxed restrictions will allow people to celebrate New Year's Eve in line with how they did before the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, people will not be allowed to drink alcohol in a public park or on a beach after 12pm. People may be at these places at any time as the curfew is no longer in effect.

Source: Briefly News