'It’s a step in the right direction': Alan Winde welcomes relaxation of some Covid-19 restrictions

Western Cape premier Alan Winde has welcomed the relaxation of some Covid-19 restrictions, saying it’s a step in the right direction.

Addressing the nation this week, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the government was shifting focus, announcing that all venues can now fill to 50% of their capacity, as long as people prove they’ve been vaccinated against Covid-19. 

Ramaphosa said masks were no longer necessary in an outdoors setting. However, masks are still required inside public transport and malls. 

Winde said the relaxation of some restrictions on the economy, especially on the tourism, hospitality and events sector, will provide much-needed relief to many job-creating businesses in the Western Cape. 

“Now that large events can return, we will be working with our partners to get industries up and running as soon as possible, including big sporting matches. We are determined to not waste another day to get the events sector growing again.” said Winde. 

“This should have happened some time ago, however. There is a clear lesson from this, and that is the government needs to move faster. Too many jobs have been lost over the last two years to excuse this pace.  

“I also do worry that there was still no hard commitment by the president to end the national state of disaster on April 15. The removal of some restrictions on the economy should not be viewed as a licence to dither yet again.”

He said the state of disaster is an extraordinary measure that cannot be extended indefinitely. 

Winde said the provincial government was closely studying the proposed health regulations that will be introduced under existing public health legislation, as mentioned by Ramaphosa.

“We will push back hard against any measures that hurt the provincial economy, and which are not clearly rooted in the best possible scientific advice, factoring in all recent evidence. It cannot be allowed to be a back door to sneak unnecessary disaster regulations back again.”

Winde has been vocal about the province’s stance on the restrictions and has repeatedly called for the lifting of the national state of disaster. 

He said the latest extension would delay efforts by the Western Cape to revive its economy and job creation. 

“The bottom line is that we cannot be in a state of disaster indefinitely. We remain fully prepared to respond to further Covid-19 waves, and we will continue to invest in our vaccination programme to save lives. But the scientific evidence is clear: we no longer need a disaster act declaration to manage the pandemic, and we instead need to normalise our response through existing health legislation.”