President Cyril Ramaphosa will kickstart the new month with a public service announcement that’s come to be known as South Africa’s ‘family meeting’.
The president’s office confirmed the address on Monday, shortly after Ramaphosa and his deputy David Mabuza welcomed the arrival of one million AstraZeneca vaccine doses at OR Tambo International Airport.
President @CyrilRamaphosa will address the nation at 20h00 today, Monday 1 February 2021, on developments in relation to the country’s response to the Coronavirus pandemic. https://t.co/JCEmKpjHlw
— Presidency | South Africa (@PresidencyZA) February 1, 2021
What will the family meeting be about?
Much has developed since the last time Ramaphosa huddled the nation for his address. With two weeks left in the extension of advanced level 3 lockdown, the time has come for an update on the progress made in the fight against the spread of Covid-19.
From the data tracked by the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD), it seems that the government has succeeded in reducing daily Covid-19 infections.
Hence, experts have hinted that Ramaphosa may lift a few restrictions in his attempt to cautiously steer South Africa towards a reopening.
According to UNISA’s Professor Dirk Kotze, there could be a welcomed lift to the alcohol ban and access to public beaches and parks.
“I definitely think there’s going to be loosening of some of these restrictions. There’s lots of discussion about the selling of alcohol. I think the issue about the curfew will be discussed also, it might be changed to later and shorter hours for the curfew,” he told SABC News.
While all of the above is speculative, we expect Ramaphosa to provide more information on the country’s efforts in securing more vaccine doses.
Watch live: Ramaphosa addresses the nation on Covid-19 developments
NOTE: The president’s address is scheduled to go live at 20:00. Thus, if playback on the live stream doesn’t kick off at the said time, allow some time for possible delays from the broadcaster’s side. Try and refresh the page if you encounter problems with the stream.