TechCentralTechCentral
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentral TechCentral
    NEWSLETTER
    • News

      Jo’burg seeks private sector help to solve electricity crisis

      23 May 2022

      Nersa approves first 100MW private power projects

      23 May 2022

      Bernie Fanaroff – the scientist who put African astronomy on the map

      23 May 2022

      WhatsApp is dropping support for these older devices

      23 May 2022

      The load shedding prognosis for the week ahead

      23 May 2022
    • World

      Michael Dell becomes kingmaker in Broadcom, VMware deal

      23 May 2022

      Tencent’s Pony Ma airs rare frustration during China slowdown

      23 May 2022

      Is it time to buy bitcoin again?

      23 May 2022

      Chip giant ASML places big bets on a tiny future

      20 May 2022

      Musk moves to soothe investor fears over Tesla

      20 May 2022
    • In-depth

      Elon Musk is becoming like Henry Ford – and that’s not a good thing

      17 May 2022

      Stablecoins wend wobbly way into the unknown

      17 May 2022

      The standard model of particle physics may be broken

      11 May 2022

      Meet Jared Birchall, Elon Musk’s personal ‘fixer’

      6 May 2022

      Twitter takeover was brash and fast, with Musk calling the shots

      26 April 2022
    • Podcasts

      The rewarding and lucrative careers to be had in infosec

      23 May 2022

      Dean Broadley on why product design at Yoco is an evolving art

      18 May 2022

      Everything PC S01E02 – ‘AMD: Ryzen from the dead – part 2’

      17 May 2022

      Everything PC S01E01 – ‘AMD: Ryzen from the dead – part 1’

      10 May 2022

      Llew Claasen on how exchange controls are harming SA tech start-ups

      2 May 2022
    • Opinion

      A proposed solution to crypto’s stablecoin problem

      19 May 2022

      From spectrum to roads, why fixing SA’s problems is an uphill battle

      19 April 2022

      How AI is being deployed in the fight against cybercriminals

      8 April 2022

      Cash is still king … but not for much longer

      31 March 2022

      Icasa on the role of TV white spaces and dynamic spectrum access

      31 March 2022
    • Company Hubs
      • 1-grid
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Amplitude
      • Atvance Intellect
      • Axiz
      • BOATech
      • CallMiner
      • Digital Generation
      • E4
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • IBM
      • Kyocera Document Solutions
      • Microsoft
      • Nutanix
      • One Trust
      • Pinnacle
      • Skybox Security
      • SkyWire
      • Tarsus on Demand
      • Videri Digital
      • Zendesk
    • Sections
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud computing
      • Consumer electronics
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Energy
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Motoring and transport
      • Public sector
      • Science
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home»News»Ramaphosa declares ‘state of disaster’ – schools, border posts to be closed

    Ramaphosa declares ‘state of disaster’ – schools, border posts to be closed

    News By Duncan McLeod15 March 2020
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    President Cyril Ramaphosa. Image: GCIS

    President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday night declared a “national state of disaster” in terms of the Disaster Management Act and announced sweeping interventions, including closing schools, to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus.

    Ramaphosa, addressing the nation from the Union Buildings in Pretoria, announced that government will severely curtail air travel from countries badly affected by the virus — which causes the deadly Covid-19 disease — and warned the measures will impact the economy negatively and lead to job losses.

    “We have decided to take urgent and drastic measures to manage the disease, protect the people of our country, and to reduce the impact of the virus on our society and on our economy,” the president said.

    We have cancelled visas to visitors from those countries from today and previously granted visas are hereby revoked

    Schools nationwide will be closed from Wednesday until after Easter, he said. Government is also imposing a travel ban on foreign nationals from “high-risk countries”, including Italy, Iran, South Korea, Germany, the US and the UK, effective from 18 March. That is likely to have a devastating impact on the tourism sector.

    “We have cancelled visas to visitors from those countries from today and previously granted visas are hereby revoked,” Ramaphosa said. “South African citizens are advised to refrain from all forms of travel to or through the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom and other identified high-risk countries such as China, Iran and South Korea. This is effective immediately.”

    Furthermore, any foreign national who has visited high-risk countries in the last 20 days will be denied a visa. South African citizens returning from high-risk countries will be subjected to testing and self-isolation or quarantine on return to South Africa, the president said.

    Border posts closed

    “Travellers from medium-risk countries such as Portugal, Hong Hong and Singapore will be required to undergo high-intensity screening,” he said, without providing further details about the planned screening system. “All travellers who entered South Africa from high-risk countries since mid-February will be required to present themselves for testing. We will strengthen surveillance, screening and testing measures at OR Tambo, Cape Town and King Shaka international airports.”

    The country will close 35 land-based border points effective immediately. Two of the country’s eight seaports will be closed for passengers and crew changes. Effective immediately, all non-essential travel for government outside the country is prohibited.

    Ramaphosa said government discourages – but hasn’t banned – all “non-essential domestic travel, particularly by air, rail, taxis and buses”. Gatherings of more than 100 people are banned. Visits to all jails and correctional facilities are suspended for the next 30 days with immediate effect.

    Shopping malls and other public places will be directed to bolster their hygiene control. Isolation and quarantine sites are being set up in each district and metropolitan municipality. Capacity to deal with the crisis is being bolstered at the country’s hospitals.

    “This coronavirus will have a significant and potentially long-lasting impact on our economy,” the president said. “In the last few weeks, we have seen a dramatic decline in economic activity in our trading partners, a sudden drop in international tourism and severe instability across all global markets.

    “The anticipated effects on the decline on exports and tourist arrivals will be exacerbated by both an increase in infections and the measures we have to take to contain the disease. This will have a potentially severe impact on production, the viability of of businesses, and job retention and job creation.”

    Because of this, cabinet is finalising a comprehensive package of interventions to mitigate against the impact of the virus on the economy and will consist of fiscal and other measures. – © 2020 NewsCentral Media

    Cyril Ramaphosa top
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleIt’s truly the end of the old Microsoft
    Next Article Airbnb to offer full refunds worldwide, including South Africa

    Related Posts

    Jo’burg seeks private sector help to solve electricity crisis

    23 May 2022

    Nersa approves first 100MW private power projects

    23 May 2022

    Bernie Fanaroff – the scientist who put African astronomy on the map

    23 May 2022
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    Vodacom champions innovation acceleration in Africa

    23 May 2022

    Kyocera answers top 10 questions on enterprise content management

    23 May 2022

    Fast-rising fintech Bankingly closes $11m investment round

    20 May 2022
    Opinion

    A proposed solution to crypto’s stablecoin problem

    19 May 2022

    From spectrum to roads, why fixing SA’s problems is an uphill battle

    19 April 2022

    How AI is being deployed in the fight against cybercriminals

    8 April 2022

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2022 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.