President Ramaphosa delivered a speech but said very little. Essentially, he doubled down on what has been a tragically flawed approach that has wreaked catastrophic, unnecessary & possibly irreparable damage to our country. - @jsteenhuisen

#cyrilramaphosa https://www.da.org.za/2020/05/national-hard-lockdown-must-end

SA’s economy and society must be opened up now, to save lives and livelihoods from all types of risks, not just Covid.

We repeat our call for the national lockdown to end swiftly. It is not a rational strategy, and has not been so for weeks. - @jsteenhuisen

#cyrilramaphosa

It is irrational and disproportionate to the scale of the risk that Covid poses, relative to other risks. And it has not been supported by an adequate safety net for poor people and small businesses.- @jsteenhuisen

#cyrilramaphosa

#CyrilRamaphosa is attempting to defend the indefensible. This lockdown has cost more lives than it has saved. Millions of jobs and lives have been destroyed.

He admitted in his speech that many regulations are irrational, yet did not end them. - @jsteenhuisen

SA’s response must be based on facts, not fear. Here are some facts.

The virus cannot be eliminated. It will be with us for the near future. A rise and peak in infections is inevitable in the coming months, whether we lockdown or not. - @jsteenhuisen

#cyrilramaphosa

Lockdown can delay but not reduce the number of infections.

South Africa needs to get back to work immediately, but with measures in place to slow the spread:

- @jsteenhuisen

#cyrilramaphosa

The early hard lockdown was a justifiable precautionary step, since there were many more unknowns then. But evidence that has come online since then shows that the mortality rate was greatly overestimated. Our approach must adjust accordingly. - @jsteenhuisen

#cyrilramaphosa

The scope for implementing a smart lockdown (localised containment of “hotspots” identified by smart testing and tracing) is fast diminishing. In fact, the window period for this is virtually closed, except in WC.

We call on the govt to:

- @jsteenhuisen

#cyrilramaphosa

To lockdown hard & fast was the easy part. It required no real leadership or courage. The hard part, that requires brave leadership and honest analysis is to know when to end the lockdown. If govt doesn’t end this lockdown, the people will end it. - @jsteenhuisen

#cyrilramaphosa