‘Fellow South Africans’: When will Cyril Ramaphosa address the nation?

After a brief period of low COVID-19 rates and lenient lockdown laws, things are now likely to change dramatically the next time we hear from the president. Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to address the nation soon, as South Africa tries to formulate a strategy to limit the spread of the Omicron variant.

Cyril Ramaphosa set for another ‘family meeting’

The National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC), our lockdown decision-making body, has already met. In fact, they brought their debrief forward by 24 hours, such is the urgency of the matter at hand.

Discussions about possible restrictions and lockdown measures have taken place, and one insider has told Bloomberg that the government is looking at ways to increase vaccine rates in SA. So far, only one-third of people are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus – way below the 70% target Cyril Ramaphosa set for the end of 2021.

Will lockdown laws change in South Africa?

Speculation remains rife over inter-provincial travel bans, and limits on indoor gatherings. Rules on international journeys are almost certain to change however, and many of these decisions have already been taken out of our hands.

A whole host of European countries have slapped their own travel bans on South Africa, with the UK putting Mzansi back on its dreaded red list. Despite this panicked move, Britain also announced its first Omicron cases on Saturday.

When will Cyril Ramaphosa address the nation?

Those waiting for the inevitable ‘fellow South Africans’ line from Cyril Ramaphosa won’t be left hanging for too long, it seems. The head of state is now likely to address the nation within the next few days – possibly as early as this evening, but nothing official has yet been confirmed by the presidency.

Ramaphosa does, however, have form when it comes to Sunday ‘family meetings’. As soon as we have confirmation on when we can expect to hear from the 69-year-old, we will publish an update on our home page.