President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation on Sunday evening about new restrictions in the country’s response to COVID-19. South Africa has been in alert level-3 since 25th July.

“The supply of vaccines is no longer a constraint, however, we need to do much more,” he said.

To date, 14,7 million doses have been given with 7,19 million people fully vaccinated (12,3%). In terms of gender, it appears that more women than men are coming forward to be vaccinated. It is important to highlight that the vaccination programme is open to all people in South Africa, whether they are South Africans or not. 

“The sooner we are all vaccinated, we can welcome tourists back to our beautiful country,” said the President. 

The President announced new adjustments to the restrictions, which include changes to the curfew and the sale of alcohol – both of which impact the operations of restaurants. 

• The new curfew will be from 11pm – 4am (with restaurants and bars having to close by 10pm).
• Gatherings indoors will allow for a maximum of 250 people, while outdoors gatherings will allow for 500 people or no more than 50% of the capacity of the venue.
• Off-site alcohol sales will now be permitted from 10am-6pm Monday to Friday and on-site sales will operate as per licence conditions up to 10pm.

These measures will be reviewed in two weeks time depending on the state of the pandemic.