After 76 days at Level 3, and 66 days at Levels 5 and 4, President Ramaphosa this evening announced that the whole country will move to Lockdown Level 2 as of midnight on Monday 17 August, and has given the country a Christmas-in-August gift, with the cigarette and alcohol bans lifted, the latter with some new regulations. Inter-provincial Travel will also be allowed. Continue reading →
The three major sport events taking place in the the country in the next three months, starting at the end of this week, could inject R 4 billion into the economy, according to economist Mike Schussler, reports the Cape Argus.
The Indian Premier League cricket tournament starts batting in Cape Town on 18 April, and continues with 58 matches in total around the country, until May. The first two matches in Cape Town are sold out already.
At the end of May the British and Irish Lions rugby tour kicks off its ten-match series in Rustenburg, continuing into June. Tickets for the first three matches are sold out already.
On 14 June the Confederations Cup gets the ball rolling as a “warm-up” to the 2010 World Cup. Ticket sales have been slow, but last week more than 70 000 tickets were sold, representing about half the ticket sales.
Some economists forecast that the effect of the three sport events will be large enough to protect South Africa from the worst effects of the global credit crunch.