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By Noni Mokati 
39m ago
Johannesburg: The National Coronavirus Command Council will continue its extensive consultations with various provinces and stakeholders ahead of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s long-awaited speech in the wake of a surge in Covid-19 infections across the country.
Ramaphosa spokesman Tyrone Seale could not confirm the exact date of Ramaphosa’s impending direction, but GCIS CEO Phumla Williams confirmed last night that the NCCC had met and has not yet concluded its meetings.
“Once the NCCC concludes its meetings, it consults with the provinces before submitting a report to the president, who in turn will involve the country on pertinent issues,” Williams said.
She also was unable to confirm the date Ramaphosa will hold the family reunion once again following his announcement of the amended lockdown regulations on December 14 amid the country enters a second wave.
Since then, the country has registered a considerable number of Covid-19 infections with figures showing up to 11,552 new cases registered as of yesterday and a total of 994,911 cases across the country, just under 1 million.
In the total number of cases registered as of December 26, Gauteng leads the group with 272,504 cases, followed by the Western Cape with 194,174, KwaZulu-Natal with 180,250 and the Eastern Cape with 165,988 cases.
But there have also been concerns from some organizations regarding the impact another hard lockdown would have on their business.
This includes those in the liquor industry.
The industry has been criticized for the failure of some liquor dealers to comply with some health facilities that have a high number of alcohol-related cases.
But the Liquor Trader Training (LFT) said that not everyone in the liquor sector has defaulted.
Its coordinator, Lucky Ntimane, said they had approached the government on the matter, but warned the government that it needed to consult with all stakeholders before contemplating imposing a total ban on the sale of alcohol.
Among some of the pressing issues Ramaphosa is expected to address in his impending speech is the government’s action plan on border control, as well as restrictions on the number of people in public gatherings.
Political Bureau
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