South Africa’s largest online retailer, Takealot.com, will remain open during the Covid-19 lockdown in South Africa, but will only be able to supply goods deemed essential by the government to its customers.

In a post on its social media accounts, Takealot said it is an essential service provider under government regulations and will “deliver essential goods as directed by the South African government”.

It said it has “temporarily disabled payment methods for all goods while we reconfigure our platform to remove the ability to purchase non-essentials”.

“Customers will be notified directly about pending orders and returns in due course,” it said.

Though it will stay open, the list of products Takealot will be able to deliver to South Africans will be severely restricted.

On Wednesday, the online retailer said it was hoping to keep operating through the three-week Covid-19 lockdown, which starts on Friday.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Monday that the country would go into a “stay-at-home” lockdown for 21 days, with only essential services — including hospitals, pharmacies and supermarkets — to continue operating.

“We believe we can play an important part in the lives of South Africans during this time, supplying essential goods to your doors in a manner that is safe and secure, and we trust that the authorities will agree with us,” Takealot said. — (c) 2020 NewsCentral Media