Medical workers disinfect equipment at an isolation ward in a hospital in Pretoria, South Africa, July 10, 2020. (Photo by Yeshiel/Xinhua)
South Africa will penalize people for not wearing masks in public places as part of efforts to curb the rapid spread of COVID-19. The country has reported over 10,000 new cases on a daily basis for several days running.
CAPE TOWN, July 14 (Xinhua) -- South Africa will penalize people for not wearing masks in public places as part of efforts to curb the rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, the government announced Monday.
Should people not take all reasonable measures to ensure masks are worn, they will face a fine or imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months or both, said Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.
"We have introduced provisions that enforce the mandatory wearing of face masks, particularly in a public setting," said the minister, while elaborating on the Amendment of Level Three Coronavirus COVID-19 Regulations.
The amended regulations, announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday evening, reinforce the mandatory wearing of masks in public or in public places because "there are a number of people who have taken to organizing parties, who have drinking sprees, and some who walk around in crowded spaces without masks," as Ramaphosa put it.
Under the new regulations, any employer, manager or owner of a building used by the public to obtain goods or services, will be responsible if any person enters and remains in such building, place or premises, without wearing a mask.
Customers visit a musical instruments shop in Johannesburg, South Africa, July 3, 2020. (Xinhua/Chen Cheng)
The penalty lies with the employer, manager, or owner of a building as access is controlled by such persons, Dlamini-Zuma said.
As for the wearing of masks in public transport, the driver, owner or operator of the vehicle who fails to take reasonable steps to ensure compliance commits an offense and is liable on conviction to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months or to both such fine and imprisonment, said Dlamini-Zuma, without specifying the amount of the fine.
This is necessary to achieve compliance with the wearing of masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the minister said.
Together with social distancing, sanitization, and the regular washing or sanitizing of hands, the wearing of masks constitutes one of the most effective systematic means of reducing transmission of the virus, she said.
South Africa is now amongst the most infected countries in the world, the minister said.
"The situation would have been far worse, had we not taken extraordinary and precautionary measures," she said.
In the past 24 hours, 11,554 new cases were reported, bringing the total number to 287,796 in the country, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said in his daily update on Tuesday.