Here’s why Ramaphosa hasn’t called a new lockdown level family meeting yet

President Cyril Ramaphosa stood in front of the nation more than two weeks ago and promised to review lockdown restrictions after a fortnight. So what happened?

Ramaphosa addressed the nation on September 12, announcing a decision to ease restrictions from alert level 3 to alert level 2. The president said the new restrictions would be reviewed after two weeks “depending on the state of the pandemic”.

Co-operative governance and traditional affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma gazetted the eased restrictions, which took effect on September 13. The cabinet was, according to Ramaphosa’s announcement, expected to review the restrictions by September 26.

However, a directive signed by Dlamini-Zuma on Sunday extended that “deadline” by a week, meaning any changes in restrictions will be reviewed and amended where necessary on October 3. 

The gazette says the decision was taken after consultation with the relevant cabinet members. 

On Monday, Western Cape premier Alan Winde called for Ramaphosa to move the province to alert level 1 and end the state of the national disaster as soon as possible.

“It is not fair on our small businesses, especially in the hospitality sector, to have restrictions in place for a day longer than they are required to protect the health system. We must get the balance right in saving both lives and jobs, and we must be agile in ensuring changes are made as soon as possible,” he said.