Winde to present motivation for suspension of National State of Disaster

Western Cape Premier, Alan Winde, says he will present motivation to suspend the National State of Disaster in February when he and other premiers meet at the President’s Co-ordinating Council on Monday.

He says there is clear evidence that the province and country’s COVID-19 related hospitalisations and deaths remain low, despite the much higher number of cases recorded during the fourth wave.

Winde says it is time to normalise the country’s COVID-19 response through existing health legislation and focus on tackling unemployment.

He says he will also call for the scrapping of the one metre social distancing rule at schools to ensure the return to full-time schooling and an end to rotational learning.

INFOGRAPHIC: COVID-19 statistics in SA:

Last week, some medical experts added their voices to calls to end the national state of disaster, which was declared in March 2020, by President Cyril Ramaphosa, to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

They said most of the measures in place are simply unfit to deal with where South Africa is right now in the fight against the coronavirus.

Wits University’s Virology Professor, Shabir Madhi said South Africa is in a very different phase of the pandemic and the dynamics of the pandemic have changed.

He added that the dynamics of  ability for citizens to protect themselves against severe disease and death has changed completely.

The video below is the full interview with Professor Shabir Madhi: