Media Release: Update on the coronavirus by Premier Alan Winde

20 October 2020

As of 1pm on 20 October, the Western Cape has 3128 active Covid-19 infections with a total of 113 864 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 106 440  recoveries.

Cape Metro Sub-districts:

Sub-districts:

Unallocated: 2122 (2000 recovered)

Data note: It is not always possible to check and verify that the address data supplied for each new recorded case is correct, within the time frames required to provide regular and timely updates. This means that in some instances, cases could be allocated to the wrong sub-districts. We are working with the sub-districts to clean and verify the data and where errors are picked up locally, cases will be re-allocated to the correct areas. 

The Western Cape has recorded an additional 8 deaths,  bringing the total number of COVID-19 related deaths in the province to 4296. We send our condolences to their loved ones at this time.

PERO and MERO set the scene for Western Cape recovery:

Today, Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, David Maynier tabled the PERO and MERO documents in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament.

Minister Maynier's speech and the documents can be accessed here: https://www.westerncape.gov.za/provincial-treasury/news/minister-david-maynier-tables-pero-and-mero-we-can-and-we-will-bounce-back-western-cape

These research documents provide insight into key economic trends in the Western Cape and in its municipalities. I'd like to thank Minister Maynier and the team at Treasury for the hard work that went into preparing these documents which provide the information we need to make important decisions around our recovery.

This year's documents show us the impact that Covid-19 has had on our economy. They predict a slow recovery at an average annual rate of 1% between 2020 and 2024. The province is still expected to grow at a faster rate than the rest of the country's economy, which is predicted to grow at 0.7% between 2020 and 2024.

These two documents outline the many risks we face in the South African economy but also point to the opportunities that exist for investment and growth in the Western Cape. These include opportunities in sectors including agriculture, agri-processing, business process outsourcing (BPO) and the green economy.

These documents and Minister Maynier's sketch the situation we face and set the scene for my speech on Thursday in which I will detail the province's plans for recovery going forward. 

During the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic the Western Cape Government committed to providing appropriate care for those who needed it and we were able to deliver that to our citizens. We did this by working differently, by innovating and harnessing the skills, and knowledge of the people working in the public service. We were also able to respond to both the health and the humanitarian needs of our citizens by building partnerships with local governments, the private sector and civil society.

Our recovery plan will use that same hard work, innovative thinking and agile approach to address our key areas of focus including jobs, safety and dignity and well-being. The first step in achieving the targets we set for ourselves in each of these areas, has been to confront the seriousness of the situation we find ourselves in, and to make the sometimes difficult decisions to ensure that we are able to meet the most immediate and growing needs of the people of this province at a time when budgets are shrinking.

The people of this province joined together to slow the spread of Covid-19, to protect others and to help in their communities when it was needed most, so I have no doubt, that with the same energy, from government, from businesses and from each and every citizen, we will recover.

Issued by Western Cape Office of the Premier, 20 October 2020