Cosatu welcomes ‘precise and focused’ Covid-19 regulations
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) says the new Covid-19 regulations announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday strikes a balance between saving lives and livelihoods.
President Ramaphosa announced several new restrictions under level 1 of the regulations on Monday evening, including a curfew between 11pm and 4am and a weekend booze ban.
Beaches in the Eastern Cape will remain closed throughout the festive season, while the beaches in KwaZulu-Natal will remain closed on the busiest days.
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Ramaphosa painted a bleak picture of what the festive season could be should people not adhere to what he called basic and easy to follow regulations.
Cosatu spokesperson Sizwe Pamla says combatting the second wave of infections is a difficult balancing act, with the health system buckling under the pressure, but the country unable to afford another hard lockdown.
"We think these precise and focused regulations - hopefully - are going to be thoroughly enforced and make a difference because at this time our economy cannot cope, but at the same time something needs to be done to save lives.
"We can only hope that South Africans themselves will play their role in ensuring that some of these measures are successful, because from here we can only go back to a hard lockdown.”
