Ramaphosa to address SA at 7.30pm on 'measures to contain coronavirus'

The presidency has slammed a fake WhatsApp message saying that Cyril Ramaphosa was to address the nation on Monday night about possibly extending the lockdown to 90 days.
The presidency has slammed a fake WhatsApp message saying that Cyril Ramaphosa was to address the nation on Monday night about possibly extending the lockdown to 90 days.
Image: GCIS

President Cyril Ramaphosa is set to speak to South Africans at 7.30pm tonight, the presidency said on Monday evening. 

In a statement, spokesperson Khusela Diko said the address would be "on the measures currently being undertaken to contain the coronavirus pandemic". "The address ... follows a meeting of the National Command Council yesterday [Sunday] which assessed the efficacy of the national lockdown," the statement read.

About an hour before the announcement that Ramaphosa would speak, Diko slammed as "fake news" a WhatsApp message doing the rounds claiming that Ramaphosa would address South Africans and whether the lockdown "will be extended for 90 days".

“The presidency issues an alert to the public when the president is about to address the nation. Anything outside of this is fake news,” she said. “Members of the public are once again cautioned against spreading fake and misleading information designed to create panic and confusion in the country. Truly this is not the time for such ridiculousness.”


In the public interest none of our coronavirus news coverage will be behind our paywall, it is available free for all to read. If you would like to support our mission of delivering award-winning, independent local news, please consider taking out a subscription by clicking here: www.dispatchLIVE.co.za/buy/.


subscribe

Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.