Aligned to the Regulation issued on 23 March under the Disaster Management Act, a new workplace Code must be implemented by, amongst others, amending Annexure E Covid-19 plans. This places workplace measures under the Labour Relations Act and includes mandatory vaccination rules, measures such as risk assessments, workplaces with less than 20 staff, isolation, reasonable accommodation (as in employment equity) and so forth.
The updated Regulations amendments to the Level 1 Regulations, including:
- Face masks are mandatory indoors and in public transport and public places, non-compliance is punishable with a fine or 6 months imprisonment
- Physical distancing is still in place and businesses have to ensure that queuing etc. maintains this. The only exception is in schools
- Gatherings (venue size permitting at 50% capacity) can have attendees of up to 1000 persons unvaccinated and untested, indoors, and 2000 outdoors, but where more than 1000 and 2000, vaccine certificates or a negative PCR test would be required. These regulations (69(1) and 69(2)) are not clear, as the first regulation seems to state that all venues filled to 50% capacity require proof of vaccination- or negative PCR test
- Travel rules include entry into South Africa only with a vaccine certificate, or a negative PCR test not older than 72 hours
Update courtesy of Elsabe Klinck and Associates
