“The Western Cape will argue against a lockdown being imposed on the province, and in favour of targeted, local interventions based on scientific evidence”
I have been informed that the National Covid-19 Command Council (NCCC) has met today to discuss the resurgence being experienced in some provinces, including the Western Cape. This will be followed by a Presidential Coordinating Council meeting tomorrow morning, where the President engages and consults with the nine Premiers.
As I have announced before, the Western Cape Government and local governments in the province are considering their own localised interventions and restrictions to slow the spread of Covid-19 in line with our own respective powers, and we will be setting out our response plan at my weekly digitial press conference on Thursday.
While we are considering our own interventions, the Western Cape Government does intend to engage the President on our position on existing regulations during this meeting tomorrow. This is because all regulations under the Disaster Management Act are promulgated by the National Government and not Provincial Governments.
During this consultation, the Western Cape will strongly argue against any blunt instrument, like a lockdown, being imposed on the province.
We must first do everything possible, through our individual and collective action to ensure the resurgence is rolled-back and to prevent this tool from ever having to be used again.