Just in: Ramaphosa to address the nation on Sunday 28 February

The Presidency has confirmed that the South African public will once again need to gather around their tv screens for a Sunday evening congress where President Cyril Ramaphosa will address the nation on the outcomes of meetings held last week in which lockdown regulations and restrictions were reviewed. 

Ramaphosa will be live at 20:00 on Sunday 28 February, and he is expected to make a number of amendments to the current restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus. 

Ramaphosa to address the nation on Sunday 28 February 2021 

Speculation has been mounting in recent days that a family meeting was imminent, and the Presidency confirmed this on Sunday afternoon. 

“President Cyril Ramaphosa will address the nation at 20:00 today, Sunday 28 February, on development in the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” they said in a statement. 

“The address follows meetings in recent days of the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC), the President’s Coordination Council (PCC) and Cabinet.”

Shift to level 1 lockdown incoming?

Many have suggested that given the consistently dwindling daily COVID-19 case numbers being reported by the department of health, that South Africa is now ready to relax some of the stringent measures that have been in place since December when the country was once again thrust into Level 3 lockdown. 

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Leader Julius Malema said earlier on Sunday that he can “smell” a shift to Level 1 lockdown restrictions, and after level 3 restrictions were adjusted multiple times, it seems likely that a move is imminent. 

Ramaphosa said that the prospect of relaxed restrictions had become increasingly plausible in recent weeks, but said that the reopening of more sectors of the economy must be done in a manner that doesn’t compromise the efforts that guided the country through its second wave of the pandemic. 

This is a developing story.