No reason why stadiums shouldn’t open tomorrow – Prof Madhi

Wits University professor of vaccinology Shabir Madhi has urged government to speed up its efforts to reopen sport activities across the country.

Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla on Friday indicated that government intends to end the national state of disaster, saying the Department of Health was revising regulations to control Covid-19.

Phaahla said his department will present new recommendations on Covid-19 regulations to the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) in the coming week.

ALSO READ: Ending State of Disaster: Lifting restrictions too soon?

There have been repeated calls for President Cyril Ramaphosa to end the state of disaster.

The current state of disaster is set to end on 15 March.

Saturday marks two years that South Africa has been in lockdown, following the declaration of the state of disaster by President Cyril Ramaphosa in March 2020.

‘Obsolete’

During an interview on eNCA, Madhi said the state of disaster was “obsolete” considering the low trajectory of the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa.

“I find it totally surprising that a country such as South Africa is still talking about the number of cases rather than the number of people that have been hospitalised and dying from Covid-19 which is at an all time low since the start of the pandemic,” he said.

The professor said the state of disaster should have been lifted “months ago”. He also criticised the NCCC as well as the Department of Health “for being out of the loop”.

READ MORE: Mandatory vaccine may soon be a reality

Speaking about the Soweto derby on Saturday, Madhi said the current regulations are “unfit for purpose”.

“[The state of disaster] is doing more harm than good because when soccer fans can’t go to those sort of events, there are livelihoods that are also being affected [as some people sell at these events].

“So there’s absolutely no reason why FNB Stadium or Soccer City can’t be full to capacity tomorrow because that is what is happening in the United Kingdom and that hasn’t come with an increase the number of Covid-19 hospitalisation and deaths.

“Simply stated, the National Coronavirus Command Council are completely out of the loop in terms of what is required at this point and time. Unfortunately, the national Department of Health [conceded] that it doesn’t seem to be reading from the correct page.”

The country is currently on adjusted level 1 lockdown, with the latest changes implemented on 31 January.

South Africa currently has a total of 3,681,437 cases to date, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).

Eighteen Covid-related deaths were also reported on Friday, bringing the total to 99,517.

Nearly 32 million (31,989,917) vaccines have been administered across the country as of 4 March.

Stadium protests

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in January took to the streets to demand the immediate reopening of stadiums and other sports and cultural venues.

The EFF staged a picket outside the Department of Sports, Art and Culture in Pretoria, with the red berets leader Julius Malema arguing that the opening of stadiums would boost the economy.

Stadiums have been closed since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, although Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has since amended regulations.

READ MORE: Mthethwa hits back at Malema in PSL stadium ban row

According to level 1 lockdown regulations under the Disaster Management Act, only a limited number of vaccinated spectators are allowed into stadiums.

The regulations state that 1,000 people or less for indoor and 2,000 people or less for outdoor venues are permitted at sports events.

Last month, the South Africa Football Association (Safa) distanced itself from the reluctance to allow fans back in stadiums for league matches.

“The PSL, just like us, have to apply to the minister of sports for the return of fans. We, as Safa, should not be doing that on their behalf. So we have nothing to do with this… you saw we opened for fans in Bafana Bafana games,” Safa COO Lydia Monyepao told the SowetanLIVE.

The National Football Supporters’ Association (Nafsa) has since organised a “peaceful protest” at Orlando Stadium ahead of the Soweto derby on Saturday, demanding that the Premier Soccer League (PSL) allow fans back into stadiums.