Minister of Trade, Industry, and Competition Ebrahim Patel announced the business categories which are allowed to reopen their businesses from 1 May this morning. The most exciting announcement, contrary to the timing projections circulating prior to today, is the permission to allow food delivery from restaurants. Buying local was encouraged by Minister Patel. A curfew will be introduced, from 20h00 to 5h00 daily.
The unlocking of the Lockdown from the current Level 5 to Level 4 from 1 May 2020 was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in an address to the nation two days ago, allowing a number of industries and services to reopen, outdoor exercise, the sale of cigarettes, all subject to strict conditions.
In an excruciating introduction, Minister of Corporate Governance and Traditional Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma spoke for about 90 minutes, first in English and then repeating it all in Zulu, and repeating a lot of information which our President communicated so eloquently on Thursday evening. The key new points she expanded upon for Level 4 are the following:
# Lockdown levels can return to Level 5, even in specific areas, if the case numbers grow.
# One may not visit friends
#. Exercise is allowed under strict conditions, gyms remain closed, and no organised walking or jogging is allowed. The conditions will be announced on Thursday.
# A curfew was mentioned, but no times mentioned, working people having to return home after work.
# Persons 60 years and older should try to work at home and stay at home ‘as much as it is possible’.
Minister Patel spoke about classifying industries on the basis of four factors:
# The risk of transmission
# The impact of the sector on the economy
# The contribution to the economy
#. The promotion of community well-being, allowing those who are most vulnerable to earn an income.
The Minister said that a balance between getting back to work as quickly as possible with health is fundamental. A phased return to work is planned. If the risk is reduced, then the Level can be lowered.
To prepare for getting to Level 4, the following is required:
- Greater workplace testing
- The workplace must be prepared for the health of the employees
- Focusing on the core parts of the economy.
In addition to Essential Services of Food production and retail, Financial services, some Mining, Media, and Call Centers, the following industries and businesses will reopen at Le el 4 on Friday, getting 40% of the workforce back at work:
1. Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing, including the transportation of livestock. Wine export was not addressed. Wine exports will be addressed by Minister Patel on Tuesday, it was announced in question time.
2. Partial (20%) reopening of Manufacturing, including the following sectors:
. Child and adult clothing
. Blanket and bedding
. Computers and mobile phones
. Cars and related components
. Hardware
. Construction
. Stationery products
3. Retail and wholesale
. Winter goods
. Educational books
. Tobacco products
. IT products
4. Mining
. Open-cast mining
5. Services
. Professional services, including accounting, legal, engineering etc
. Call centres
. Recycling of waste
. Civil engineering
. Road Bridge projects
6. Restaurants and Take-Away foods
. Permitted on the basis of delivery alone, within curfew hours.
I have created a Facebook page with a listing of Cape Town restaurants and chefs offering Food delivery services from 1 May:
Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog: www.chrisvonulmenstein.com/blog Tel +27 082 55 11 323 Twitter:@Ulmenstein Facebook: Chris von Ulmenstein Instagram: @Chrissy_Ulmenstein
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