The Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma on Thursday, gazetted the extension of the National State of Disaster to 15 November 2021.
The Ministry said the extension followed consultations with relevant stakeholders and cabinet approval.
However, despite the extension and a looming fourth wave, South Africans got a taste of normalcy this week as sports fans returned to the stadium for the first time since March 2020.
Football fans return to stadiums
On Monday, the South African Football Association (Safa) announced that 2 000 spectators were allowed to attend the FIFA Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifier on Tuesday, October 12.
The game at FNB Stadium saw Bafana Bafana beat Ethopia 1-0 to remain top of group G in their quest to qualify for next year’s World Cup in Qatar.
“Fans have been hungry to return to the stadium and the small business and informal sector will receive a massive boost as a result of this initiative,” Safa president, Dr Danny Jordaan said.
The initiative, Safa said, formed part of their plan to use football as a ‘tonic and to expedite mass vaccinations that will enable society to return to normalcy’ as only vaccinated fans could purchase tickets.
Rugby fans to also return to stadiums
On Wednesday, SA Rugby followed suit by announcing that fully vaccinated supporters will be allowed to return to club and professional rugby matches within limits announced by government while observing prevailing health guidelines.
However, SA Rugby’s return to stadiums does not include school rugby which falls under the auspices of the Department of Basic Education.
Jurie Roux, CEO of SA Rugby said its governing body was in full support of government’s drive to accelerate mass vaccinations by allowing society to return to normality while ensuring that rugby was not the cause of the further spreading of the virus.
“This is very welcome news and the first step to returning to having the freedom to sell out venues on special occasions once again. It is 19 months since a fan was last allowed in a rugby stadium and this is the light at the end of the tunnel that our sport has desperately needed,” said Roux.
Provincial unions will be responsible for ensuring that the union, clubs and their affiliated bodies adhere strictly to the directions stipulated in the Government Gazette.
Vaccination deadline
As government continues to encourage vaccination, there is still the threat of an imminent fourth wave and to avert the 20 000 to 30 000 deaths predicted in this wave, government will have to escalate its vaccination drive in order to meet it’s target of vaccinating 70% of adults by December.
To do this, government has noted five key strategies to build “demand”. They include: Intensifying public leadership across all sectors; Simplifying communication; Ramping up media and marketing strategies; Energising networks of civil society, labour and business; and encouraging incentives that enhance the value and offset the opportunity costs of vaccination.
Daily round-up
As of October 14, the cumulative number of Covid-19 cases identified in SA was 2 914 827, with 947 new cases reported. A further 40 deaths have been reported, bringing the total number of fatalities to 88 506. The total number of Covid-19 vaccines administered now stand at 19 899 964.
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