South African president extends lockdown two weeks, takes pay cut

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday extended South Africa’s nationwide lockdown for another two weeks amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Ramaphosa initially announced the lockdown on March 23, with it going into effect March 26 and scheduled to end April 16. It will now run through the end of April.

The African nation has 1,934 confirmed cases of the virus and 18 related deaths. Ramaphosa said in his remarks that the imposed shutdown has slashed the average daily increase of cases in the country to 4 percent. 

“If we end the lockdown too soon or too abruptly, we risk a massive and uncontrollable resurgence of the disease,” he said. “We risk reversing the gains we have made over the last few weeks, and rendering meaningless the great sacrifices we have all made.”

Message on Government’s #COVID19 Response #Day14ofLockdown https://t.co/0DPWrqN518

— Cyril Ramaphosa (@CyrilRamaphosa) April 9, 2020

He added: “After careful consideration of the available evidence, the National Coronavirus Command Council has decided to extend the nation-wide lockdown by a further two weeks beyond the initial 21 days.”

The president also said that he and his Cabinet will take pay cuts as the South African government continues to combat the outbreak. 

“In support of this effort, we have decided that the President, Deputy President, Ministers and Deputy Ministers will each take a one-third cut in their salaries for the next three months,” Ramaphosa said.