Political parties are united in their support of government’s initiatives to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in the country. President Cyril Ramaphosa has met with the leaders of various political parties at the Union Buildings in Pretoria. This engagement forms part of a schedule of engagements before the President addresses the nation later on Sunday. He is expected to announce whether the measures that are currently in place to contain the spread of the virus are sufficient or further measures are required.
Political parties have urged citizens to adhere to restrictions stipulated by the government.
Leader of the Congress of the People Mosioua Lekota has called on South Africans to abide by the restrictions that government has already put in place. “This is a time for patriotism, we want the people of our country to survive.”
IFP deputy president Mzamo Buthelezi also expressed confidence in the ability of the Ramaphosa administration to deal with the pandemic.
In the video below, political parties are urging citizens to adhere to restrictions put in place
Meeting with business
The president also met with the business. The engagement with business forms part of a series of meetings the President has held with various stakeholder constituencies including communities of faith and the nation’s political leadership.
Measures and test kits
The president has recently announced a raft of measures to control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic including travel bans, restricted size of social gatherings and closure of various sea and land ports.
#COVID19 President @CyrilRamaphosa will address the nation in a message that will be broadcast on radio, television, and online livestreams. Please note that the time at which the President will address will be determined by the time his meetings conclude. #CoronaVirusSA pic.twitter.com/KJ5JnRq5o3
— Presidency | South Africa ?? (@PresidencyZA) March 22, 2020
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said on Thursday, at a joint media briefing with the South African Medical Association (SAMA), that South Africa needs more COVID-19 test kits as they need to increase capacity so that they can test as many people as possible.
#COVID19 Later in the day the President will chair a meeting of the National Command Council which will receive an update on the #coronavirus outbreak, progress & challenges related to implementation of the recently promulgated regulations on the state of disaster
— Presidency | South Africa ?? (@PresidencyZA) March 22, 2020
“We are looking at how to increase the testing capabilities so that we can test as many people as possible. We have been talking about it that at this point we’ve just probably got about 1 200 tests and this 150 comes from that number, but we now need to start being ready to test a couple of thousands per day and secondly we need to also be able to increase capability to have what we call drive-by testing and mobile testing capacity as it were.”
