South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday announced a further easing of coronavirus (Covid-19) lockdown regulations in the country, allowing the opening of restaurants for sit-down meals, commercially licensed accommodation and personal care services, including hairdressers. 

“When I announced that the country would be moving to alert level 3 from the 1st of June, I said that we would be giving consideration to the reopening of other sectors of the economy if the necessary safety precautions can be put in place and maintained,” Ramaphosa addressed South Africa from his Union Buildings offices in Pretoria. 

“Following further discussions with industry representatives on stringent prevention protocols, and after advice from scientists and consultation with premiers, Cabinet has decided to ease restrictions on certain other economic activities. These activities include restaurants for ‘sit-down’ meals, accredited and licensed accommodation – with the exception of home-sharing accommodation like AirBnB –conferences and meetings for business purposes and, in line with restrictions on public gatherings, cinemas and theatres, to be aligned to limitations on the gathering of people, casinos, personal care services, including hairdressers and beauty services, non-contact sports such as golf, tennis, cricket and others.” 

Ramaphosa said contact sports will be allowed only for training and modified activities with restricted use of facilities.

“In each instance, specific and stringent safety requirements have been agreed on and will need to be put in place before a business can reopen, and protocols will need to be strictly adhered to for businesses to remain open,” said Ramaphosa. 

He said announcements will be made in due course to detail these measures and indicate the date from which these activities will be permitted. 

“We have taken this decision with due care and seriousness, appreciating the risks associated with each activity and the measures needed to manage those risks. Altogether, these industries employed over 500 000 people before the lockdown. We have had to think about these people and those who depend on them for their livelihoods,” said Ramaphosa. 

"Through the easing of the lockdown we are continuing to balance our overriding objective of saving lives and preserving livelihoods. It is important to remember that this is a global pandemic, and that most countries are facing similar challenges and must resolve similar dilemmas. We are therefore working closely with international agencies and other countries in responding to the coronavirus.”