President Cyril Ramaphosa has signalled an end to the national state of disaster.
Delivering the state of the nation address (Sona) on Thursday, Ramaphosa said the only remaining hurdle was ensuring health regulations were in place to ensure Covid-19 regulations were still in place.
“We will do so as soon as we have finalised legislation to manage the pandemic.” He emphasised that Covid-19 vaccines remain the best defence against the virus.
This includes regulations around social distancing and mask wearing.
The DA has long called for Ramaphosa to end the state of disaster, which has gone on for two years.
It is, however, uncertain how long it will take to pass legislation needed to contain and manage Covid-19.
Business Day understands that the decision to end the national state of disaster comes after a two hour discussion in the cabinet on Wednesday with arguments for and against.
Insiders to the meeting say that Ramaphosa summarised in the meeting, saying that while in SA it took 90 days to pass legislation, emergency regulations could be passed much sooner.
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