President to Update The Country on Vaccine and Lockdown Status

It is less than one year since the first case of the new virus, Covid-19 was identified in South Africa and the first batch of vaccine to protect against the infection has landed in the country.  President Cyril Ramaphosa will be speaking to the country again tonight with an update on the vaccine programme, and maybe, just maybe, updates on the lockdown regulations. 

Here we go again. President Cyril Ramaphosa will address the nation at 8PM tonight. 

On the day that the first batch of vaccines arrives in the country we will be getting an update from the President. But will he just be giving us an update on the vaccine rollout plan - or will there also be an update on the national lockdown regulations? 

Cases of Covid-19 have fallen steadily over the last two weeks and the number of new cases being identified has also shown a very sharp drop. This may give the President some room to relax some of the restrictions imposed on hotspot areas and allow more economic and social activity to resume.

The Presidency stated:

President Cyril Ramaphosa will address the nation at 20h00 today, Monday 1 February 2021, on developments in relation to the country’s response to the Coronavirus pandemic.

This address comes after the President held meetings with the National Coronavirus Command Council, the President’s Coordinating Council and the Cabinet this week. 

Tonight, South Africans might see the alcohol ban lifted. 

Lucky Mtimane from the National Liquor Traders Council said:

Our expectation is that we'll be allowed to open in some form and we are expecting that to happen as a matter of urgency in the next few hours.

Previously, the President extended the National State of Disaster to 15 February. 

Perhaps we could also see changes being made to the curfew as well as some restrictions.

Ramaphosa will also probably offer some more insight into the vaccine rollout after the first batch is expected to land in the country today.

The President’s address will be broadcast and streamed on a range of platforms that are accessible to South Africans and international audiences.