More from South African News | Online News | The South African

The president also stressed the importance of keeping the economy open after months of stifling movement restrictions.

He urged citizens not to drop their guard and continue adhering to the health rules, such as wearing face masks and respecting curfew times.

South Africa has recorded just over 800,000 coronavirus infections - more than a third of the cases reported across the African continent - and over 20,000 deaths.

AFP

","ShowFullContent":false,"FactText":null,"FactUrl":null,"RelatedIds":null,"OGImageUrl":null,"OGImageWidth":null,"OGImageHeight":null,"FavIconUrl":null,"FavIconWidth":null,"FavIconHeight":null,"IsLocal":false,"Type":null,"SummaryText":"South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday announced new localized restrictions to stem a resurgence of Covid-19 in the south of the country, amid growing fears new infections could spiral into a second wave. \n\nAuthorities in Africa's worst virus-hit country have grown increasingly concerned by cluster outbreaks in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces that flared up last month. \n\nExperts fear the uptick could spread further during the upcoming summer holiday when citizens criss-cross provinces to spend Christmas and New Year with family and friends. \n\n\"We have always known that a second wave of infections is possible in South Africa if we do not take necessary measures,\" Ramaphosa said in an address to the nation on Thursday, noting that \"this virus does not take a holiday\". \n\nSouth Africa recorded over 4,400 new infections on Wednesday, the highest 24-hour increase since mid-August. \n\nMost of the resurge is driven by infections in the Eastern Cape, particularly in the Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB) municipality, home to the province's largest city of Port Elizabeth. \n\nRamaphosa said the area had now been declared a \"hotspot\" and subjected to a new set of restrictions. \n\nA stricter 10:00 pm curfew will be imposed - compared to the midnight cut-off time in the rest of the country. \n\nAlcohol sales and consumption will once again be limited to reduce trauma admissions to busy hospitals, and social gatherings capped. \n\nRamaphosa assured the new measures were not meant to \"punish\" NMB residents but to \"contain the spread of the virus\" and \"save lives\". \n\nHe said officials would soon be visiting two other cluster outbreak areas to determine an \"appropriate course of action\". \n\n\"We need to quickly extinguish the flare-ups before they turn into an inferno,\" he added. \n\nA total of 800,872 people are confirmed to have been infected by the virus in South Africa since March. Around 92 per cent of these people have recovered. This is good news. As of today, 21,803 people are known to have died from COVID-19 in South Africa.\r\n— Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 #StaySafe (@CyrilRamaphosa) December 3, 2020 \n\n\nThe president also stressed the importance of keeping the economy open after months of stifling movement restrictions. \n\nHe urged citizens not to drop their guard and continue adhering to the health rules, such as wearing face masks and respecting curfew times. \n\nSouth Africa has recorded just over 800,000 coronavirus infections - more than a third of the cases reported across the African continent - and over 20,000 deaths. \n\nAFP","MaxDetailCharacters":300,"ImageUrl":"https://cdn.blackfacts.net/uploads/blackfacts/facts/2020/12/0bcf2e71-e555-406c-8726-d15eaf87f127.jpg","ImageHeight":538,"ImageWidth":1024,"ImageOrientation":"landscape","HasImage":true,"CssClass":"","Layout":"","Rowspan":1,"Colspan":1,"Likes":0,"Shares":0,"ContentSourceId":"42C8FAC1-E2C7-4A09-8CA5-16C843DEC99E","SourceName":"Africanews | Latest breaking news, daily news and African news from Africa","ContentSourceRootUrl":"https://www.africanews.com","ContentSourceIcon":null,"SponsorId":null,"IsSponsored":false,"SponsorName":null,"SmallSponsorLogoUrl":null,"SponsorUrl":null,"HasSmallSponsorLogo":false,"EffectiveDate":null,"HasEffectiveDate":false,"MonthAbbrevName":null,"FormattedDate":null,"Year":null,"Month":null,"Day":null,"LastUpdatedDate":"2023-11-25T05:14:39.027","LastUpdatedBy":null,"IsEditable":false,"InsertAd":false,"JSONFactData":"{\"date\":\"2020-12-04T08:31:38Z\"}","JsonExtData":{"date":{"ValueKind":3}},"Html":null,"Css":null,"Script":null,"ScriptHash":null,"Id":210202,"FactUId":"CDE530D6-B5EC-4CF6-93E0-F7052D7E6C39","Slug":"south-africa-announces-new-measures-targeting-virus-hotspots-africanews","FactType":"News","VirtualSiteSlug":"blackfacts","Title":"South Africa announces new measures targeting virus hotspots | Africanews","LocalFactUrl":"/fact/south-africa-announces-new-measures-targeting-virus-hotspots-africanews","ResultCount":200,"SearchType":"OmniSearch.RelatedId"},{"FadeSummary":true,"SponsorRedirectUrl":"https://ai.blackfacts.com/redirect/Sponsor/fa2f9afd-7089-4f75-b6cc-7310752048d0/b724c64c-5fcc-4520-85a7-6274a231b64b/https%3A%2F%2Fdiversityinaction.net%2F","SourceRedirectUrl":"https://ai.blackfacts.com/redirect/ContentSource/7b933ae8-03cd-4cb2-9499-82145e19cfcf/b724c64c-5fcc-4520-85a7-6274a231b64b/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsday.co.zw","DisplayText":"

COMPLIMENTS of the season, Cde Acting President, I hope I find you well in these trying COVID-19 times. Your Excellency, the year has started on a sad note and today you happen to be the recipient of regular letters I write to your boss, President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Your boss and some ministers, including Monica Mutsvangwa, who holds the vital Information portfolio, have gone on sabbatical, apparently to rest after a year of hard work, whose results, however, are hardly visible. They are human, they ought to rest, but how can leaders take a sabbatical at a time like this? What kind of leadership is this? Sincere apologies for venting on you Cde Acting President but if truth be told, this is unacceptable. You addressed the Press on Sunday Your Excellency, in your capacity as the Acting President but your address, as anticipated, left a lot of issues hanging. There was nothing beyond your eloquence as you arrogantly dismissed genuine questions on how the government would decongest hospitals and water points during the COVID-19 period and the age-old water crisis in major cities. Your responses were as vague as they were shallow and that kind of failure to articulate issues and give direction during a crisis is disastrous. For example, you rightly advised the people of Zimbabwe to mask up, sanitise and regularly wash their hands. Good advice but there is no water to do that in the cities. It is your responsibility as government to provide water, potable water that is, to the people and your approach in addressing the water situation has been lackadaisical, exposing lack of sincerity. You also dismissed a journalist who asked if there were any  plans to decongest hospitals, saying she should go to the hospitals and bring evidence for her allegations. That was a bit low Your Excellency. Government is failing the people of Zimbabwe in these COVID-19 days. The chaos in your hometown  Beitbridge that leads to South Africa is too enormous to ignore and your silence is worryingly loud. Thousands of people are stranded as they attempt to flee to neighbouring South Africa where they choose to stay under deplorable conditions doing menial jobs because they can’t stand the economic crisis in Zimbabwe. It is sad that Zimbabweans are desperately fleeing their homes to expose themselves and their families to xenophobic attacks in South Africa because of the economic crisis bedevilling the country. By the way Your Excellency, South Africa is seething with anger over the corrupt behaviour of your police officers and soldiers at the border post. Its Home Affairs minister has literally camped at the Beitbridge Border Post to deal with the issue of our people trying to illegally sneak into South Africa, aided by corrupt State security agents. It is an epitome of failure on your part as government, and that you ignored the situation in Beitbridge in your Sunday address makes it even worse. The people are suffering and the “business as usual” approach you are taking is ridiculous. Government, through your colleague Vice-President Constanti

","ShowFullContent":false,"FactText":null,"FactUrl":null,"RelatedIds":null,"OGImageUrl":null,"OGImageWidth":null,"OGImageHeight":null,"FavIconUrl":null,"FavIconWidth":null,"FavIconHeight":null,"IsLocal":false,"Type":null,"SummaryText":"COMPLIMENTS of the season, Cde Acting President, I hope I find you well in these trying COVID-19 times. Your Excellency, the year has started on a sad note and today you happen to be the recipient of regular letters I write to your boss, President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Your boss and some ministers, including Monica Mutsvangwa, who holds the vital Information portfolio, have gone on sabbatical, apparently to rest after a year of hard work, whose results, however, are hardly visible. They are human, they ought to rest, but how can leaders take a sabbatical at a time like this? What kind of leadership is this? Sincere apologies for venting on you Cde Acting President but if truth be told, this is unacceptable. You addressed the Press on Sunday Your Excellency, in your capacity as the Acting President but your address, as anticipated, left a lot of issues hanging. There was nothing beyond your eloquence as you arrogantly dismissed genuine questions on how the government would decongest hospitals and water points during the COVID-19 period and the age-old water crisis in major cities. Your responses were as vague as they were shallow and that kind of failure to articulate issues and give direction during a crisis is disastrous. For example, you rightly advised the people of Zimbabwe to mask up, sanitise and regularly wash their hands. Good advice but there is no water to do that in the cities. It is your responsibility as government to provide water, potable water that is, to the people and your approach in addressing the water situation has been lackadaisical, exposing lack of sincerity. You also dismissed a journalist who asked if there were any  plans to decongest hospitals, saying she should go to the hospitals and bring evidence for her allegations. That was a bit low Your Excellency. Government is failing the people of Zimbabwe in these COVID-19 days. The chaos in your hometown  Beitbridge that leads to South Africa is too enormous to ignore and your silence is worryingly loud. Thousands of people are stranded as they attempt to flee to neighbouring South Africa where they choose to stay under deplorable conditions doing menial jobs because they can’t stand the economic crisis in Zimbabwe. It is sad that Zimbabweans are desperately fleeing their homes to expose themselves and their families to xenophobic attacks in South Africa because of the economic crisis bedevilling the country. By the way Your Excellency, South Africa is seething with anger over the corrupt behaviour of your police officers and soldiers at the border post. Its Home Affairs minister has literally camped at the Beitbridge Border Post to deal with the issue of our people trying to illegally sneak into South Africa, aided by corrupt State security agents. It is an epitome of failure on your part as government, and that you ignored the situation in Beitbridge in your Sunday address makes it even worse. The people are suffering and the “business as usual” approach you are taking is ridiculous. Government, through your colleague Vice-President Constanti","MaxDetailCharacters":300,"ImageUrl":"https://cdn.blackfacts.net/uploads/blackfacts/facts/2021/01/374c6b18-36ac-4768-aa11-4ac0e764418d.jpg","ImageHeight":400,"ImageWidth":600,"ImageOrientation":"landscape","HasImage":true,"CssClass":"","Layout":"","Rowspan":1,"Colspan":1,"Likes":0,"Shares":0,"ContentSourceId":"7B933AE8-03CD-4CB2-9499-82145E19CFCF","SourceName":"NewsDay Zimbabwe - Everyday News for Everyday People","ContentSourceRootUrl":"https://www.newsday.co.zw","ContentSourceIcon":null,"SponsorId":"FA2F9AFD-7089-4F75-B6CC-7310752048D0","IsSponsored":true,"SponsorName":"Diversity In Action","SmallSponsorLogoUrl":"24x24/DiversityInAction-Logo-24.jpg","SponsorUrl":"https://diversityinaction.net/","HasSmallSponsorLogo":true,"EffectiveDate":null,"HasEffectiveDate":false,"MonthAbbrevName":null,"FormattedDate":null,"Year":null,"Month":null,"Day":null,"LastUpdatedDate":"2023-11-25T05:14:39.027","LastUpdatedBy":null,"IsEditable":false,"InsertAd":false,"JSONFactData":"{\"date\":\"2021-01-05T22:00:55Z\"}","JsonExtData":{"date":{"ValueKind":3}},"Html":null,"Css":null,"Script":null,"ScriptHash":null,"Id":221687,"FactUId":"0F974115-F54C-4AAC-A577-39B95834E0F4","Slug":"how-does-he-take-leave-during-such-a-crisis","FactType":"News","VirtualSiteSlug":"blackfacts","Title":"How does HE take leave during such a crisis?","LocalFactUrl":"/fact/how-does-he-take-leave-during-such-a-crisis","ResultCount":200,"SearchType":"OmniSearch.RelatedId"},{"FadeSummary":false,"SponsorRedirectUrl":null,"SourceRedirectUrl":"https://ai.blackfacts.com/redirect/ContentSource/ba8cd304-6b2c-4c96-b969-a837090ad7f7/b724c64c-5fcc-4520-85a7-6274a231b64b/https%3A%2F%2Fallafrica.com","DisplayText":"

[Daily Maverick] The climate crisis affects us all and will become an increasingly urgent topic in future. We need to make education on the crisis a central subject at schools and universities.

","ShowFullContent":false,"FactText":null,"FactUrl":null,"RelatedIds":null,"OGImageUrl":null,"OGImageWidth":null,"OGImageHeight":null,"FavIconUrl":null,"FavIconWidth":null,"FavIconHeight":null,"IsLocal":false,"Type":null,"SummaryText":"[Daily Maverick] The climate crisis affects us all and will become an increasingly urgent topic in future. We need to make education on the crisis a central subject at schools and universities.","MaxDetailCharacters":300,"ImageUrl":"https://cdn.blackfacts.net/uploads/blackfacts/facts/2021/01/661cabe7-85bf-4373-9038-dd85a4c6bdf1.jpg","ImageHeight":664,"ImageWidth":664,"ImageOrientation":"portrait","HasImage":true,"CssClass":"","Layout":"","Rowspan":1,"Colspan":1,"Likes":0,"Shares":0,"ContentSourceId":"BA8CD304-6B2C-4C96-B969-A837090AD7F7","SourceName":"allAfrica.com","ContentSourceRootUrl":"https://allafrica.com","ContentSourceIcon":null,"SponsorId":null,"IsSponsored":false,"SponsorName":null,"SmallSponsorLogoUrl":null,"SponsorUrl":null,"HasSmallSponsorLogo":false,"EffectiveDate":null,"HasEffectiveDate":false,"MonthAbbrevName":null,"FormattedDate":null,"Year":null,"Month":null,"Day":null,"LastUpdatedDate":"2023-11-25T05:14:39.027","LastUpdatedBy":null,"IsEditable":false,"InsertAd":false,"JSONFactData":"{\"date\":\"2021-01-08T11:05:49Z\"}","JsonExtData":{"date":{"ValueKind":3}},"Html":null,"Css":null,"Script":null,"ScriptHash":null,"Id":224593,"FactUId":"DDBA5FB6-B260-425D-B8CD-B871C00246B1","Slug":"africa-south-africa-must-place-climate-crisis-literacy-at-the-centre-of-its-education-system","FactType":"News","VirtualSiteSlug":"blackfacts","Title":"Africa: South Africa Must Place Climate Crisis Literacy At the Centre of Its Education System","LocalFactUrl":"/fact/africa-south-africa-must-place-climate-crisis-literacy-at-the-centre-of-its-education-system","ResultCount":200,"SearchType":"OmniSearch.RelatedId"}],"virtualSiteSlug":"blackfacts","clientParm":null,"totalItemCount":200,"pageSize":20,"template":"\r\n
\r\n {{#HasImage}}\r\n \r\n
\r\n
\r\n \r\n
\r\n
\r\n
\r\n {{/HasImage}}\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n {{#IsSponsored}}\r\n \r\n {{/IsSponsored}}\r\n {{#HasEffectiveDate}}\r\n
\r\n
\r\n
{{MonthAbbrevName}}
\r\n
{{Day}}
\r\n
\r\n
{{Year}}
\r\n
\r\n {{/HasEffectiveDate}}\r\n
\r\n ","ajaxUrl":"/api/omnisearch/blackfacts/relatedid/381550/","initItem":function (item, index) { var opts = this.options, summary = (item.SummaryText || '').substring(0, opts.summaryMaxLength), path = item.FactType === 'News' ? '/news/article/' : '/fact/'; if (summary.length === opts.summaryMaxLength) { var summaryMatch = summary.match(/(^.*\w{2,})\s/); if (summaryMatch) { summary = summaryMatch[1]; } } item.siteFactUrl = 'https://' + opts.siteRoot + path + item.Slug; item.SummaryText = summary; item.fadeText = summary.length > opts.summaryFadeLength; },"columnWidth":"auto","columns":8,"resolutions":[{"maxWidth":2560,"horizontalSpaceBetweenBoxes":10,"verticalSpaceBetweenBoxes":10,"columnWidth":"auto","columns":8},{"maxWidth":2048,"horizontalSpaceBetweenBoxes":10,"verticalSpaceBetweenBoxes":10,"columnWidth":"auto","columns":6},{"maxWidth":1680,"horizontalSpaceBetweenBoxes":10,"verticalSpaceBetweenBoxes":10,"columnWidth":"auto","columns":5},{"maxWidth":1440,"horizontalSpaceBetweenBoxes":10,"verticalSpaceBetweenBoxes":10,"columnWidth":"auto","columns":4},{"maxWidth":1152,"horizontalSpaceBetweenBoxes":10,"verticalSpaceBetweenBoxes":10,"columnWidth":"auto","columns":3},{"maxWidth":800,"horizontalSpaceBetweenBoxes":10,"verticalSpaceBetweenBoxes":10,"columnWidth":"auto","columns":2},{"maxWidth":450,"horizontalSpaceBetweenBoxes":10,"verticalSpaceBetweenBoxes":10,"columnWidth":"auto","columns":1}],"horizontalSpaceBetweenBoxes":10,"verticalSpaceBetweenBoxes":10,"deepLinkingOnPopup":false,"deepLinkingOnFilter":false,"noMoreEntriesWord":"","viewport":"#contents_secondaryView_secondaryfacts"}); var context = {"requestId":"34ecea76-082f-4b63-ac9d-1eb764f97fe2","userId":"b724c64c-5fcc-4520-85a7-6274a231b64b","deviceId":"41854fe8-0b4c-499b-8452-83510e7bf21c","snapshotInterval":0,"anonymousId":"b724c64c-5fcc-4520-85a7-6274a231b64b","user":{"id":"00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000","userName":"","displayName":"","homeSiteSlug":"","firstName":"","lastName":"","sex":"","preferredLocaleId":"","timeZone":"","avatar":"","streetAddress":"","city":"","region":"","country":"","initials":"","IsAuthenticated":false,"roles":[],"appClaims":[],"Name":"","NameClaimType":"http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2005/05/identity/claims/name","RoleClaimType":"role"},"session":{"sessionId":"2CCD77BD-D4A7-4F4D-BC94-466C280BD43F","deviceId":"41854FE8-0B4C-499B-8452-83510E7BF21C"},"site":{"ApiAccount":"BBDC06F9-FC7A-442C-9A2D-979344C312F1","Palette":"BlackFacts","SiteTypeId":"Root","Theme":"BlackFacts","Active":true,"ApplicationSlug":"blackfacts","ESRBRating":"E","Host":"blackfacts.com","Name":"Blackfacts.com","SiteRoot":"blackfacts.com","Slug":"blackfacts"},"idpUrl":"https://blackfacts.com","isMobile":false,"modalActive":false,"featureHelp":{},"wakandaAPIUrl":"https://api.blackfacts.com","analyticsApiUrl":"https://ai.blackfacts.com","analyticsApiInitialDelay":10000,"viewData":{"z":{"FactDetail":{"w":[{"w":"c5750c0c-d272-4676-856f-3b3a6c4fe026","t":"News"}],"x":0.0,"y":0.0},"RelatedStream":{"w":[{"w":"6d3e4377-d29c-4a38-9500-c82bd9d1108c","t":"News"},{"w":"27b2325d-092d-4eb6-a408-28eaf5556bbf","t":"News"},{"w":"0ba2550e-7bca-463d-b918-e3fb82b5beb9","t":"News"},{"w":"6153a947-83c7-4887-a2e5-7cd58bda325a","t":"News"},{"w":"0b76fb08-c66d-4954-b09e-c449d18953f3","t":"News"},{"w":"5da1c34f-b55c-4ae0-a68c-aa36840e5589","t":"News"},{"w":"d761872a-1ae2-44d7-a7c4-aeb9e8603ba1","t":"News"},{"w":"5117229d-17ae-445e-914f-bea985838c21","t":"News"},{"w":"d68646f6-da5b-4094-914b-ed39071dc967","t":"News"},{"w":"ad2909a3-fe19-4576-a074-f05cab69f90b","t":"News"},{"w":"1104f4ca-4398-4e16-ab80-9d300f06252c","t":"News"},{"w":"85b76c6b-59b9-4895-8f17-b3a5269c3506","t":"News"},{"w":"a3c64e92-ff2b-4270-89ac-ece340796a7c","t":"News"},{"w":"2c399708-2a52-4eb7-aeb6-78aa7131b4c8","t":"News"},{"w":"8a5b0165-2fd4-47ca-a98c-ccfd212a0900","t":"News"},{"w":"cd21356f-8043-42f9-be8f-dac4caa7b446","t":"News"},{"w":"1ee8b140-012d-449e-8586-7d147512df42","t":"News"},{"w":"6e57c257-0101-428e-b2e7-3f1cc82bc66c","t":"News"},{"w":"b8478606-4598-4b07-b8f2-a9d6f642025e","t":"News"},{"w":"435cc737-286e-4d98-8645-d5f7a8c7190d","t":"News"},{"w":"443cff50-519f-4e73-b132-48e83187a040","t":"News"},{"w":"56a607e1-ebee-409a-9e23-ccaf40bec7e4","t":"News"},{"w":"207571d4-b06f-40ee-a2cb-b10a849fe3d1","t":"News"},{"w":"971767c0-5b8d-47d9-9a2b-f9b3a9f87ca1","t":"News"},{"w":"32b070b1-ccae-431b-bce8-2fb2c9c7d10c","t":"News"},{"w":"4d5fd8d8-c477-4aff-82ef-19d15f8880a0","t":"News"},{"w":"f177f522-e178-4431-9ee9-68d937825ec1","t":"News"},{"w":"cde530d6-b5ec-4cf6-93e0-f7052d7e6c39","t":"News"},{"w":"0f974115-f54c-4aac-a577-39b95834e0f4","t":"News"},{"w":"ddba5fb6-b260-425d-b8cd-b871c00246b1","t":"News"}],"x":0.0,"y":0.0},"RightSidebar":{"w":[{"w":"2b4c9fdf-9a1e-4483-b9c8-14bf9355cb2c","t":"YouTube Widget"},{"w":"4f53e1d6-b119-458b-8092-f0f9ecb28629","t":"Sponsor Ad Widget"},{"w":"5692118d-5776-41d7-8e30-0bcac9007a4b","t":"Channel Roulette Widget"},{"w":"748256f2-2f2a-49e9-843d-38b9b8201d10","t":"Topic List Widget"},{"w":"ce4b5be8-9603-4b67-a3eb-e2a32191f89a","t":"Channels Widget"},{"w":"55fdd816-abb9-457e-a422-c22e283dd86d","t":"Sponsor Ad Widget"},{"w":"16fd5741-bf87-4f95-900f-b2198e83f75b","t":"Sponsor Ad Widget"}],"x":0.0,"y":0.0},"Footer":{"w":[{"w":"387122a1-363b-45f9-919d-36df1db2f020","t":"Amazon Widget"}],"x":0.0,"y":0.0}},"u":"https://blackfacts.com/news/article/sa-trial-over-9-in-10-infections-after-a-j-amp-j-vaccine-are-only-mild-cases","q":"34ecea76-082f-4b63-ac9d-1eb764f97fe2","i":"b724c64c-5fcc-4520-85a7-6274a231b64b","d":"2026-01-25T04:12:19.6571763Z"},"userActions":[],"searches":[],"refreshTokenName":"blackfacts_refresh","refreshTokenDomain":".blackfacts.com","refreshTokenTimeoutMinutes":20160}; //]]>