Ramaphosa to announce another 14 days of lockdown, political parties told

This emerged after the president held a teleconference with leaders of political parties at 4pm on Thursday afternoon.

The parties supported the extension and Ramaphosa was then to make the official announcement at 8pm, though much could have changed in that time.

A reliable source who was party to the teleconference with the president said the political parties agreed for the lockdown to be extended. There was a general consensus about this, and some parties even suggested that certain lockdown regulations needed to be strengthened.

It is understood that the Economic Freedom Fighters raised the question of the finance sector, saying it should be dealt with for continuing to charge interest to clients during the lockdown.

The party, supported by Al Jama-ah, lambasted commercial banks for allegedly refusing to stop interest charges, particularly to small businesses and the poor.

The president apparently appeared sympathetic to the idea that the banks must be reigned in, but any of the specifics of the lockdown, including whether there might be a day or two’s reprieve in between lockdowns from next Thursday, was yet to be announced.

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