Lockdown: Calls growing for President Ramaphosa to end curfew before New Year’s Eve
There are growing calls to end the COVID-19 curfew before New Year’s Eve following criticism by the Democratic Alliance (DA) that the curfew was ineffective.
There’s currently an online petition running initiated by Beerhouse founder Randolf Jorberg and the Hospitality Leadership group, a nationwide interest group for the hospitality industry, urging the president to end the curfew.
The country is currently on adjusted level one, with a curfew from midnight until 4am.
The Hospitality Leadership group said that for the past 21 months, citizens had been living with a curfew that had not shown to have any effect on the transmission of the COVID-19 virus.
It also said that the curfew infringed on basic rights enshrined in the Constitution.
DA leader John Steenhuisen has also called on the president to end the curfew before the new year.
He said that the real crisis now was the state of the economy and widespread suffering from loss of income.
And Cape Town Mayco member for Economic Growth, James Vos, said that 24-hour economic activity was needed to boost the economy, especially hospitality and tourism, restaurants, and the events industry, which were major employers.
“These businesses need every single hour of trading and can not afford more restrictions and therefore as the city, we will make submissions to the national government to have these curfews terminated.”
He said that it could not be allowed to let the economy and, in particular the tourism sector, small businesses, and informal traders, endure further losses due to restricted trading hours.
-EWN
In other news – Actress Natasha Thahane speaks on her life as Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s granddaughter
Actress Natasha Thahane is popular for her work on Skeem Saam, Saints and Sinners and now The Queen. The actress also happens to be the granddaughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. She lets us into their lives.
The Soweto-born artist used to live with her grandfather. At 16, she moved in with him in Cape Town so she could study at Middleton High School. I call him “Khulu” and our relationship grew stronger when I moved in with him and his wife, my grandmother, Leah. Learn More
