As the impending 21-day lockdown approaches, new regulations were published on 25 March 2020 in terms of section 27(2) of the Disaster Management Act No. 57 of 2002 (“the Act”), to supplement the existing regulations published on 18 March 2020 in terms of the same Act and to cater specifically for the conditions of lockdown (“lockdown regulations”).
The lockdown regulations will take effect at 24h00 on 26 March 2020 and will apply until 24h00 on 16 April 2020, or on such other date as determined by the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.
The lockdown regulations provide the following:
1. Prohibition on refusal of consent to medical examinations and treatments, quarantine or isolation
No person who is a patient presenting with clinical signs and symptoms of COVID-19 or has been diagnosed with COVID-19 by an approved laboratory diagnostic method, or who is suspected of having contracted COVID-19, or who has been in contact with a person who is a carrier of COVID-19 may refuse their consent to submit a medical examination and the taking of a bodily sample, or to be admitted to a health establishment or to quarantine or an isolation site, or to submit to mandatory prophylaxis, treatment, isolation or quarantine.
2. Restriction on the movement of persons and goods
Confinement of persons:
For the duration of the lockdown (commencing at 24h00 on Thursday 26 March 2020 and expiring at 24h00 on 16 April 2020, notwithstanding the effective time of the lockdown regulations) (“lockdown”), every person is confined to their place of residence unless strictly for the purpose of performing an essential service, obtaining an essential good or service, collecting a social grant, or seeking emergency, life-saving or chronic medical attention.
All gatherings of any nature are prohibited, save for funerals (no night vigils) which are limited to 50 people and all safety measures must be adhered to. Any person who leaves their private residence, whether to perform essential services, obtain essential goods or seek medical attention may be subject to screening for COVID-19.
“Essential goods” include any food product or non-alcoholic beverage, animal food, cleaning products, hygiene products, medical supplies, fuel and basic goods, including airtime and electricity.
“Essential Services” include:
(a) medical, health (including mental health), laboratory and medical services and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases;
(b) disaster management, fire prevention, firefighting and emergency services;
(c) financial services necessary to maintain the functioning of the banking and payments environment, including the JSE, insurance services and medical scheme administration;
(d) grocery stores (including spaza shops) and the production and sale of essential goods;
(e) electricity (including vital demand management services), water, gas and fuel production, supply and maintenance and essential municipal and government services;
(f) care services and social relief of distress provided to older persons, mentally ill, persons with disabilities, the sick and children;
(g) funeral services, including mortuaries;
(h) wildlife management, anti-poaching, animal care and veterinary services;
(i) newspaper, broadcasting and telecommunication infrastructure and services,
(j) cleaning, sanitation, sewerage, waste and refuse removal services;
(k) services relating to the essential functioning of courts, judicial officers, Master of the High Court, sheriffs and legal practitioners required for those services;
(l) essential SARS services;
(m) police, peace officers, traffic officers, military medical personnel and soldiers, correctional service officers and traffic management services;
(n) private security services;
(o) transport services for persons rendering essential services and goods and transportation of patients;
(p) tow trucks and vehicle recovery services;
(q) call centres necessary to provide health, safety, social support, government and financial services;
(r) harvesting and storage activities essential to prevent the wastage of primary agricultural goods;
(s) implementation of payroll systems to the extent that such arrangement has not been made for the lockdown, to ensure timeous payments to workers; and
(t) Critical maintenance services which cannot be delayed for more than 21 days and are essential to resume operations after the lockdown.
The full list is contained in Part B of Annexure B to the lockdown regulations available here: http://www.gpwonline.co.za/Gazettes/Gazettes/43148_25-3_COGTA.pdf as amended by http://www.gpwonline.co.za/Gazettes/Gazettes/43168_26-3_COGTA.pdf.
In addition, the lockdown regulations expressly prohibit all movement of persons between the provinces or between metropolitan and district areas.
3. Businesses and Sale of Goods
Sale of non-essential goods: Retail stores selling essential goods are prohibited from selling any other goods for the duration of the lockdown.
Closure of businesses: All businesses are required to cease operations, save where they are involved in the manufacturing, supply or provision of an essential good or service. Businesses are not required to cease operations where their operations can be run remotely by persons from their private residences or where operations take place outside of the South Africa.
All retail stores and shopping centres are required to close to the public except where essential goods are sold and then only where controls are in place to ensure that customers keep at a distance of at least one square meter from each other and the requisite hygiene conditions are adhered to.
Sale of non-essential goods: Retail stores selling essential goods are prohibited from selling any other goods for the duration of the lockdown.
Closure of places or premises: All places or premises not involved in the provision of an essential good or service must remain closed during the lockdown except to those persons rendering security or maintenance services at those places. This includes all places where religious, cultural, sporting, entertainment, recreational or similar activities take place as well as public parks, beaches, swimming pools, private and public game reserves (except where required for temporary confinement of tourists during the lockdown), all liquor stores, restaurants, taverns, shebeens, or areas in supermarkets where liquor is sold. It also includes taxi ranks, bus depots, train stations and airports.
All workplaces or premises must undertake care or maintenance work that is essential to prevent the destruction or significant impairment of working areas, plant, machinery or inventory, or in order to ensure orderly shutdown arrangements. Such work will be subject to any conditions as may be issued by the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition and/or the Minister of Employment and Labour.
Furthermore, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition and the Minister of Health may issue directions relating to those services deemed crucial to the support of international markets, or which provide or maintain essential services relating to health, social support, government and financial services.
4. Travel
Border closures: all borders of South Africa will be closed for the duration of the lockdown save in relation to the transportation of fuel or essential goods.
The Minister of Home Affairs has the discretion to allow a person to enter the Republic for emergency medical attention for a life-threatening condition.
Foreign tourists: All foreign tourists who arrived in South Africa prior to or after the lockdown and who remain in South Africa must remain in their place of temporary residence for the duration of the lockdown, or 14 days, whichever is longer. Such persons will be subject to screening for COVID-19 and may be quarantined or isolated as required.
Public transport restrictions:
(a) All commuter services (including trains, busses, Ubers, taxis, flights and boat transport) are suspended, except where for the purpose of enabling the rendering of essential services or obtaining essential goods, seeking medical attention, attending funeral services and receiving payment of grants. However, such vehicles must carry no more than 50% of that vehicle’s licensed capacity in the case of public transport, and 60% in the case of private vehicles and all directions in respect of hygienic conditions and the limitation of exposure of persons to COVID-19 must be adhered to.
(b) Proviso: if a person who is rendering essential services cannot travel to and from his/her place of employment, the employer must make the necessary transport arrangements, with the same restrictions as above applying.
(c) a form (as attached to the regulations) must be filled out for those who are undertaking travel for the purpose of providing essential services.
5. Isolation and Shelters
Self isolation: The state acknowledges that not all people have the means necessary to self-isolate, while some people may refuse to leave their current place of informal settlement. Accordingly, the state has the power to, for the period of the lock down, forcefully evacuate a person from an area of lock-down to a place of temporary shelter, which complies with prescribed hygiene standards.
Temporary Shelters: the state has undertaken to, for the period of the lock down, identify suitably hygienic temporary shelters for the homeless and suitably hygienic temporary quarantine sites for persons who cannot self-isolate.
6. Security: Citizens will take comfort in the fact that the powers and indemnities of security services provided for in any law will not be limited.
7. Websites with .za domain names: For the duration of the declared national state of disaster, all websites with a .za domain name are required to include a visible link to www.sacoronavirus.co.za on their landing page.
8. Directives: As per the directives issued in terms of the regulations, it is important to note that:
(a) Business communities could be asked, in partnership with the municipalities, to play the role of health promoters in their communities and enable uniform, non-alarmist and consistent communication with the public.
(b) Municipalities are instructed to close all public spaces and facilities that do not provide essential services, including:
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- Swimming pools;
- Restaurants;
- Libraries;
- Beaches;
- Museums and art galleries;
- Community halls and recreation centres for community events and functions;
- Public parks; and
- Wedding receptions and celebrations.
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9. Contravention: Contravention is an offence. Any person who contravenes the aforesaid regulations will be guilty of an offence and will be liable on conviction to a fine or imprisonment not exceeding 6 months, or to both.