Here are all South Africa’s adjusted level 1 lockdown changes – including vaccine certificates
President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that a number of South Africa’s lockdown regulations will be relaxed as the country moves to an adjusted level 1 lockdown from Friday (1 October). In a national address on Thursday evening, the president said that the country is making…
Ramaphosa on lifting South Africa’s national state of disaster
President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africa will need to meet certain requirements before the country’s state of disaster regulations can be lifted. The president said that the state of disaster will only be lifted if the appropriate Covid-19 prevention regulations are in place in each…
South Africa and the ANC are facing a make or break moment: Ramaphosa
President Cyril Ramaphosa says that the ANC should be frank about its failures in government but shine the spotlight on its successes, especially the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting economic meltdown. Speaking at the party’s national executive committee (NEC) this week,…
Unions want new school calendar for South Africa
The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) has called for changes to South Africa’s 2023 and 2024 school calendars to better align provincial systems. In a statement following its national executive committee meeting on Sunday (19 September), the union said that it will make a…
United States set to lift travel ban for vaccinated South Africans
The US will soon allow entry to most foreign air travelers as long as they’re fully vaccinated against Covid-19 — while adding a testing requirement for unvaccinated Americans and barring entry for foreigners who haven’t gotten shots. The measures, announced Monday by the White House,…
South Africa’s municipal workers to get three-year pay rise
The South African Local Government Association (SALGA) and unions have secured a multi-year salary and wage deal that will see employees in the sector receive a 3.5% increase over the next three years. SALGA, the employer body that represents the country’s 257 municipalities, in a…
South Africa set to get an ‘extra’ public holiday
The Electoral Commission has written to Home Affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi requesting that he facilitates a request to the president asking for election day, Monday, 1 November, to be declared a public holiday. This intervention is aimed at affording all voters an equal footing to…
Relaxed lockdown restrictions being considered for South Africa: health minister
Health minister Joe Phaahla says South Africa is seeing a decline in the third wave of its Covid-19 cases, and the government is now considering the further easing of lockdown restrictions. Addressing media on Friday (17 September), Phaahla said that when compared to the previous…
Landmark Covid-19 case heads to court
A massive Covid-19 outbreak at the hard-partying ski resort of Ischgl was covered up and then downplayed by Austrian officials to save last year’s lucrative spring season, a Vienna court will be told on Friday. The Consumer Protection Association (VSV), a group spearheading the legal…
Western Cape looking at mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations
The Western Cape government is discussing mandatory vaccinations – considering the policy for staff within the provincial government’s various departments, and mulling the province’s official stance on the issue, says premier Alan Winde. Addressing the Western Cape provincial parliament on Friday (3 September), Winde said…
IEC re-opens voter and candidate registration for 2021 elections
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has announced that voter and candidate registration for the 2021 elections will be re-opened. This follows the Constitutional Court’s decision to dismiss the IEC’s bid to postpone the elections to a later date, possibly early 2022. The Constitutional Court ordered…
No more bailouts for state-owned enterprises
Public Enterprises director-general Kgathatso Tlhakudi says government will no longer be funding bailouts, as they are known, for state-owned enterprises. Tlhakudi was speaking during a departmental briefing of Parliament’s Public Enterprises Committee. He said any funding would be given under strict conditions. “What has been…