City of Cape Town welcomes lockdown announcement by President Ramaphosa, urges public to cooperate

23 March 2020

As the Mayor of the City of Cape Town, I welcome the extraordinary announcements made by South African President, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa this evening. These are unprecedented times but the City of Cape Town is in full support of the 21-day lockdown announced by the President in order to curb the spread of the COVID-19 Coronavirus.

We will be meeting with the National Government, Provincial Government, Disaster Risk Management teams and all relevant stakeholders to ensure that we are ready to implement whatever is required in order to protect our residents from the virus and assist them to limit the spread of the COVID-19 Coronavirus.

I want to call on our residents to please remain calm as the president has made it clear that food stores and medical services will remain open during the lockdown. There is much work to be done in the coming days but the agricultural and retail sectors have already assured the public that there is sufficient food supply. When going to buy food, please do not take the whole family with you, rather go as an individual for the family and take the necessary precautions as far as possible.

Law enforcement and emergency services staff will continue working and ensuring the safety of our communities.

Please stay home, look after one another, and check official government channels for regular updates. We will update our website, Twitter, and Facebook daily, and will continue to communicate with the public. Let’s work together to limit the spread of the Coronavirus, and flatten the curve.

Issued by Media Office, 23 March 2020