President Cyril Ramaphosa has said that government will make an announcement later this week on lockdown regulations as the country heads into a long weekend, and braces for a third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ramaphosa said religious organisations have asked that some of the existing lockdown restrictions be eased for Easter and Ramadan.

South Africa is currently under level 1 of the national lockdown, which permits faith-based, religious, social, political and cultural gatherings.

However, gatherings are limited to 250 persons or less for outdoor venues, 100 persons or less for indoor venues, and if the venue is too small to hold the prescribed number of persons observing a distance of at least one-and-a-half metres from each other, then not more than 50 percent of the capacity of the venue may be used.

In his weekly letter to the nation, Ramaphosa warned that large gatherings, whether religious or otherwise, have the potential to spread the virus, despite the application of measures around social distancing and sanitising.

However, he agreed that all efforts must be made to support South Africans in their right to religious freedom.

“Over this coming weekend, millions of South Africans will be observing an important tenet of their faith. In a country that enshrines the right to religious freedom, all effort must be made to support our people in the exercise of this right. And in exercising this right, we need to make sure that we do not place the rights or the lives of others at risk. This is a principle that the religious leaders I met with fully support and appreciate,” Ramaphosa said.

He acknowledged the role of faith-based organisations in the national response to the Covid-19 pandemic and said religious leaders understood and appreciated the danger of a new wave of Covid-19 infections.

Ramaphosa encouraged congregational services to be held online and worshippers were encouraged to pray in their homes instead of attending services.

“This greatly aided the national effort to contain the spread of the disease. Religious leaders played a pivotal role in encouraging public adherence to health measures around important customary and cultural rituals like burials,” he stated.

Many countries have eased restrictions, only for there to be resurgences, necessitating the imposition of even harsher restrictions, Ramaphosa warned.

He encouraged faith communities to innovate in the holding of congregational worship over Easter, Passover and Ramadan.

 “We are now at a time where precaution is needed above all. The coronavirus pandemic has not been eliminated, either in our own country or around the world. The threat of a third wave is real and ever-present," Ramaphosa said.