Latest On Lockdown South Africa! Cyril Ramaphosa Extends Lockdown To 2 Weeks [FULL SPEECH]

President Cyril Ramaphosa today addressed South Africans on the latest update about the pandemic coronavirus (Covid-19) in the country. Cyril Ramaphosa in his speech spoke about the extension of lockdown after the exhaustion of the initial 21 days lockdown earlier declared by the Government.

The initial lockdown would have only been for 21 days, but Ramaphosa, in a televised address to the nation on Thursday evening, said SA was at the beginning of a monumental struggle and could not be complacent.

The South African government had last month declared a 21 days lockdown to curtail the spread of the virus but the President in speech stated that since the declaration of the lockdown the number of cases has continued to rise.

The President said the decision to extend the lockdown was not taken lightly.

The lockdown took effect at midnight on Thursday March 26 and would have been lifted next week Thursday 16 April at midnight.

His address to the nation followed a meeting of  the national coronavirus command council held on Wednesday and further consultations with various social partners, the presidency said earlier on Thursday.

By Thursday, more than 1.5-million people globally had been infected with the novel coronavirus, according to the Johns Hopkins tracker, while more than 90,000 people had died.