President Cyril Ramaphosa says the National Command Council is still doing an assessment to determine if the 21-day national lockdown has been effective.

The President was speaking during his visit to the National Water Command Centre at Rand Water in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

Ramaphosa is due to meet with his National Command Council and Cabinet in the coming days to decide whether the lockdown will be extended or not.

Ramaphosa says while there are many people that are complying with the lockdown and its regulations, there are some who are getting on with their lives as though there is no coronavirus.

“We must abide by the regulations that have been published by government. We will be able to make a proper, if you like scientific assessment in a few days’ time to see how well this lockdown is serving the people of our country.”

He says the current coronavirus situation would have been considerably worse had SA not taken swift and decisive action.

“If we had not locked down South Africa as we have, I can tell you without any shadow of doubt, that the infections rate in South Africa would have been a lot lot higher than what we have.”

Ramaphosa says the lockdown is an important measure to save lives and stop the spread of the pandemic.

Faizel Patel

(Twitter: @FaizelPatel143)