‘We don’t understand why Ramaphosa hasn’t addressed the nation yet – Ntimane

The National Liquor Trade Association spokesperson Lucky Ntimane says they do not understand why President Cyril Ramaphosa hasn’t addressed the nation since August.

The association are hoping the president addresses the nation on Sunday (13 September). Ntimane told The Citizen there is no science that continues to justify the restrictions of alcohol sales or bans during the Covid-19 waves.

“Ramaphosa has met with cabinet, National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) and the President’s Coordinating Council (PCC). We don’t understand why he hasn’t spoken to the public on what was discussed.”

The president did meet with the PCC and NCCC last Tuesday according to a News24 report. If Ramaphosa does address the nation, he is expected to announce an easing of lockdown restrictions as Covid-19 cases have steadily decreased.

South Africa is currently under adjusted level 3 restrictions.

RELATED: Ramaphosa expected to announce easing of lockdown restrictions

Ntimane wants alcohol restrictions eased to help businesses in the restaurant and bar industries. “The issue is also the curfew, restaurants are closing at 8pm and losing lots of money because of this”.

He adds that they would want the curfew moved to 11pm to allow restaurants to recover some of their losses. Ntimane concluded that the sale of alcohol should resume from Monday to Sunday as the current regulations don’t make sense.

“How is it that you have retail stores closing for four days but you have taverns operating in a seven day period?”

The reported possible changes include possible adjusting the curfew to 11pm to 4am, level 2, and increasing the number of people at indoor gatherings from 50 to 100 and 250 for outdoor gatherings.

Ramaphosa last address was on August 19 where he announced that the country will remain in adjusted level 3 during the third wave. However, he did ease restrictions on booze and public gatherings.

The latest figures according to the latest statistics released by the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) on Saturday, South Africa recorded 5,309 new Covid-19 cases and 143 deaths.

This increase represents a 10.7% positivity rate.

The country has also recorded 143 Covid-19 related deaths, bringing total fatalities to 84,751 to date.