The announcement came after calls for the curfew to be lifted to allow people to usher in the new year.
DA leader John Steenhuisen said the curfew was unjustified and called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to lift it before Friday.
It was unclear if the government was going to respond, as police minister Bheki Cele was adamant the curfew would be in place.
Cele said on Thursday SA should not rush to ease the restrictions and police would arrest anyone found "loitering" during curfew.
“Police must make sure that they arrest those who break the law, because there is still a curfew. We will keep that maximum visibility on high alert. Those who are going to the beaches must go home before midnight, because if we find you loitering around at the beach you will get arrested," he said.
This is what Mzansi had to say about the lifting of the curfew:
'Someone check on Bheki Cele': Mzansi reacts to the lifting of lockdown curfew
Image: GALLO IMAGES/ROGER SEDRES
South Africans have taken to Twitter to welcome the cabinet's decision to lift the Covid-19 curfew before New Year's Eve.
The curfew has been in place since the start of the lockdown in March 2020 to curb the spread of the virus.
On Thursday, the presidency said it decided to ease the restrictions because of the vaccination rollout and capacity in the health system.
“Based on the trajectory of the pandemic, the levels of vaccination in the country and the available capacity within the health sector, the cabinet decided to make these changes to adjusted alert level 1 with immediate effect:
Cabinet lifts Covid-19 curfew with immediate effect
The announcement came after calls for the curfew to be lifted to allow people to usher in the new year.
DA leader John Steenhuisen said the curfew was unjustified and called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to lift it before Friday.
It was unclear if the government was going to respond, as police minister Bheki Cele was adamant the curfew would be in place.
Cele said on Thursday SA should not rush to ease the restrictions and police would arrest anyone found "loitering" during curfew.
“Police must make sure that they arrest those who break the law, because there is still a curfew. We will keep that maximum visibility on high alert. Those who are going to the beaches must go home before midnight, because if we find you loitering around at the beach you will get arrested," he said.
This is what Mzansi had to say about the lifting of the curfew:
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READ MORE:
The curfew may be lifted but we're still in a pandemic state of disaster
'Can we go watch football now?' - Calls for government to open stadiums as curfew is scrapped
Curfew lifting: Calls for vaccinations and responsible conduct join praise
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