eThekwini will move to stage 4 on Friday with the rest of the country, says KZN premier

KwaZulu-Natal premier Sihle Zikalala says the eThekwini municipality will move to level 4 of lockdown on Friday but under strict regulations.

“eThekwini is going to be part of those that are opening up some sectors and therefore it means we will be part of level four but that means that all regulations that are still attached will be implemented strictly,” said Zikalala.

Zikalala was speaking at the disaster management centre on Wednesday where he, along with eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda and health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu, received 10 mobile testing vehicles. Each vehicle is estimated to be able to take 120 swabs a day based on a 6-hour day.

In the build-up to the relaxation of lockdown rules on Friday, there had been much talk on whether the municipality, which is the epicentre of the virus in the province, would be downgraded.

At a media briefing of Sunday Zikalala had said that unless there was a “drastic change” in the number of cases coming out of the city, eThekwini would remain under the strict lockdown regulations at level 5.

The premier said that he would be meeting with business leaders on Wednesday to assure their readiness for the downgrade.

Meanwhile, eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda said the city, through law enforcement, would be tightening the bolts to ensure that businesses and citizens continued to comply with lockdown regulations.

“We will be working very closely with law enforcement to make sure that all businesses that are uplifted under level 4 are adhering to the rules,” said Kaunda.

“Since the premier introduced a more intensified way of enforcing lockdown, people in the townships are adhering and have responded positively, but there have been pockets of people who have been behaving like it is Christmas. The downgrade to level 4 does not mean lockdown is over,” he added.

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