President Cyril Ramaphosa
Amid a massive resurgence in Covid-19 infections, President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced a renewed ban on the sale of alcohol as the the country moves to an adjusted Alert Level 4 lockdown.
In an address to the nation, he said the rapid spread of the Delta variant, which has now been detected in the Eastern Cape, the Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape, was "extremely serious".
The Delta variant is more transmissible than previous variants and is twice as contagious, the President said, noting that infections were rapidly rising in most of the country's provinces.
Healthcare facilities and hospitals in many provinces were stretched to the limits and ICU beds in short supply.
Therefore, new restrictions will be put in place from Monday, June 28, to Sunday, July 11.
The curfew will be from 21:00 to 04:00 and all nonessential establishments must close by 20:00.
The sale of alcohol, both on site and off site, will be prohibited.
All gatherings, whether indoors or outdoors, will be prohibited.
The closure of schools for the winter break will be brought forward. Schools will start to close from Wednesday, June 30, and all schools must close by Friday, July 2.
To deal with the significant infections numbers in Gauteng, travel in and out of the province for leisure purposes is prohibited and restaurants and eateries will only be allowed to sell food for take away or delivery.