With South Africa breaching one million confirmed cases of Covid-19, President Cyril Ramaphosa and the National Coronavirus Command Council had little option but to move from Level 1 to an adjusted Level 3 of the nationwide lockdown restrictions, say business representatives, and this had made the president's announcement on Monday night less hard to swallow.
However, South African business lobby groups say it is now vital that government act swiftly to secure access to vaccines to keep the economy alive. Ramaphosa said on Monday evening the first vaccines could only be expected to hit SA shores in the second quarter of 2021.