While borders and other points of entry will reopen under level one, government has decided to retain the ban on travellers from the US, UK, Spain and Italy – which are key markets for the revival of the tourism sector.

President Cyril Ramaphosa will tell the nation on Wednesday night that he is moving the country to Level 1 of the national lockdown and opening up international travel - with provisos.

Travel from high risk countries such as the United States and some of the major EU countries will remain banned.

Controversially, however, arrivals from India and Brazil – which have the second and third highest infection rates in the world – will be permitted.

People arriving from countries permitted into SA will have to produce a negative test result taken 72 hours before travel, which will grant them access without having to quarantine first.

According to top insiders who attended meetings of the Presidential Coordinating Council on Tuesday, Cabinet – which is meeting on Wednesday – is expected to endorse the decision to move to Level 1 of the lockdown and the resumption of international travel. The president would then address the nation afterwards.

Travellers who display symptoms will have to quarantine at own cost, even if they produce evidence of having tested negative 72 hours prior

Acting presidential spokesperson Tyrone Seale could not immediately confirm this when contacted on Wednesday morning. “We do normally make announcements before the President addresses the nation,” he said.

A member of the National Coronavirus Command Council said the decision to move the country to Level 1 and allow international travel, was supported by Health Minister Zweli Mkhize, who cited declining daily infection rates and the availability of beds at trauma units and quarantine facilities as evidence that South Africa was ready to open up.

A senior government official privy to discussions said the decision to open up was premised on a risk-based approach.

“We have a very low number of hospital admissions, very low numbers in critical wards. Our equipment such as ventilators are in abundance and quarantine sites are laying empty at the moment. We are seeing low admissions and low infection rates on a daily basis. Less than one thousand people per day are contracting the virus.

“Should there be an case upsurge at Level 1, based on empirical evidence around the world a second upsurge is never as big as the first one. We have enough equipment and facilities to handle it."

An NCC insider said while borders and other points of entry would reopen, government had decided that travellers from high risk countries not be permitted to enter South Africa. These include the US, the United Kingdom, Spain and Italy – which are key markets for the revival of the tourism sector. But arrivals from India and Brazil, each with 4.3-million and 5-million infections respectively, will be allowed. “India and Brazil do not present high numbers for us.”

Travellers who display symptoms will have to quarantine at own cost, even if they produce evidence of having tested negative 72 hours before they travelled.

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Western Cape Premier Alan Winde wants the curfew lifted and a date

for international travel to resume.

Premiers are meant to meet with President Ramaphosa and the NCCC to

    discuss the lockdown.

 

Winde also hopes to have clarity on events and sporting businesses.

 

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde and other premiers will be meeting with

President Cyril Ramaphosa and the National Coronavirus Command Council

(NCCC) to discuss the next phase of the lockdown on Tuesday.

 

In a video statement released on Tuesday, Winde said he would be pushing

for three main agenda items that his government felt would allow for

more economic activity in the country.

 

Winde said he would be asking the president to lift the curfew and give

clarity on international travel, as well.

 

"We need a date that international travel opens, in October, so that the

bookings can be made by international travellers who want to come into

our country for business or vacation for the next few months," he said.

 

"We need to make sure that we open up on our events, sporting

businesses, and churches must be able to open up more carrying

capacity," added Winde.

 

Winde last week also pleaded with Ramaphosa to fight the "second

pandemic" - unemployment - by opening up all sectors of the economy on

Friday.

 

According to a statement by the presidency, the meeting would be chaired

by Ramaphosa and was expected to focus on a report from the NCCC on the

country's response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

This, as Ramaphosa hinted in a meeting with the South Africa National

Editors Forum last week that South Africa could be going into Level 1

lockdown soon.

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• Rich people in various countries seem to be reconsidering where they actually want to live after the coronavirus, says consultancy Henley & Partners.
• Judging by enquiries about investment migration, that is.
• South Africa is among those countries.
• But Americans are suddenly way more keen to leave their country than South Africans.

Between the beginning and the middle of 2020, the number of wealthy South Africans considering leaving the country shot up by nearly half, judging by the enquiries it received on "investment migration", say consultants Henley & Partners.

That is roughly in line with what the company recorded in other countries, including Pakistani and Bangladesh, and not too far from the growth in interest it recorded among Indian nationals.

But what might have been surprising before the arrival of the coronavirus – and the starkly different ways governments dealt with it – was the "huge spike in enquiries from Americans".

Looking at the numbers over the year up to the end of August, enquiries from citizens of the United States of America who are thinking about buying their way into another country rose by just under 167%, says Henley & Partners.

That comes after it recorded a dip in such enquiries, a decrease of 5.1%, by US nationals between the end of 2019 and early 2020.

The American growth numbers are roughly similar to those recorded in Nigeria between the first and second quarters of this year.

Countries to which rich migrants may opt to go include New Zealand, Singapore, Austria, and Montenegro.

Lockdowns have seen more wealthy people consider how – and where – they want to live, says the company.

"Many are taking stock and ensuring they are better prepared for the next pandemic or major global disruption," said Henley & Partners CEO Juerg Steffen in a statement.

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The DA says Zimbabwean teachers locked out of SA due to Covid-19

 restriction should be allowed to return to SA.

According to the provincial education department, four teachers who

were locked out have since been assisted.

The department says teachers who are still outside SA's borders are

 on unpaid leave.

The DA in Limpopo is calling on Education MEC Polly Boshielo to

intervene and approach the home affairs department to help Zimbabwean

teachers return to SA.

According to the party, an education portfolio committee meeting last

week revealed that about 400 gateway subject teachers, mostly from

Zimbabwe, were unable to enter South Africa due to border restrictions.

Gateway subjects include mathematics, physical science, economics,

agricultural sciences and accounting.

"The failure of these gateway subject teachers to enter the country and

resume work will have an extremely negative effect on the preparation of

learners for their final exams and their chances to achieve good marks

for admission into institutions of higher learning.

"The impact of the failure of these teachers to resume work is further

compounded by the fact that almost half the school year has been lost

due to Covid-19," DA provincial legislature member Jacques Smalle said

on Tuesday.

According to the provincial education department, of the 379 foreign

teachers who teach maths and sciences at high schools in the province,

only 20 were locked in Zimbabwe due to the lockdown.

The Department of Home Affairs has since assisted four teachers to

return, Limpopo education spokesperson Tidimalo Chuene said.

 

Sixteen remain outside the country and processes are under way to ensure

they return to classes, she added.

"These educators are appointed in temporary posts due to the nature of

their citizenship. They are paid a normal educator salary through the

PERSAL system."

Meanwhile, those who remain outside of South Africa's borders are

"deemed to be on unpaid leave".

Chuene said the department stopped their salaries and substituted them.

 

But Smalle said the teachers should be allowed to enter the country as a

matter of urgency, given their contribution to the vital subject areas

they teach.

 

He added that, in the 2019 final matric exams, the province achieved

lower percentages than the national average of pupils who achieved above

30% in all 11 gateway subjects.

 

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  * *The National Economic Development and Labour Council has agreed on

    an action plan for the country's economic recovery.

  * *President Cyril Ramaphosa met with the council on Tuesday.

  * *Details of the plan will be announced once it is finalised by Cabinet.

The National Economic Development and Labour Council has agreed to an

economic recovery plan for South Africa.

According to a statement issued by the Presidency on Tuesday, following

a meeting between President Cyril Ramaphosa and Nedlac - a body

comprised of representatives of government, business, labour and

community - the details of the plan will be announced once it is

finalised by Cabinet.

The country's economy is set to contract anywhere between 7% and 13%

this year due to the damaging impact of the lockdown that was instituted

to curb the spread of Covid-19. Most recent data from Stats SA showed

that the economy contracted by 51% quarter on quarteron

an annualised basis as a result of the lockdown, which saw economic

activity grind to a halt for five weeks.

The country has had to borrow from multilateral institutions such as the

International Monetary Fund, the African Development Bank and the New

Development Bank, in order to fund responses to the pandemic as well as

buoy the economy.

"The social partners' action plan is founded on significant convergence

on what needs to be done to set the economy on a new, accelerated,

inclusive and transformative growth trajectory.

"Social partners have identified priority areas for rebuilding the

economy as well as structural reforms and other programmes which will

enable sustainable and inclusive growth with an intensive focus on job

creation," read the statement from the Presidency.

 

Notably, Nedlac agreed on a social compact to mobilise funding to

address Eskom's financial crisis "in a sustainable manner", according to

the statement. Eskom is facing a growing debt burden which currently

stands at some R480 billion. It's been battling with operational

challenges, impacting its ability to supply power with detrimental

effects on business confidence and economic growth.

Commenting on the agreement and the commitments made by social partners

to implement the plan, the president said it "is a great achievement

that rises to the challenge of the moment".

 

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