COVID-19 government notices
18 January 2021
Coronavirus and vaccine booklet
Government has released a vaccine information booklet to aid the general public in understanding what the vaccine is, how it works and who will receive the vaccine first.
11 August 2020
National Treasury Instruction Note No 8 of 2020/21
National Treasury Instruction Note No 8 of 2020/21
11 August 2020
National Treasury Instruction Note No 7 of 2020/21
National Treasury Instruction Note No 7 of 2020/21
11 August 2020
National Treasury: Instruction Note No 5 of 2020/21
National Treasury: Instruction Note No 5 of 2020/21
14 July 2020
SARS national classification list of COVID-19 medical supplies.
SARS has published a National classification list of COVID-19 medical supplies.
19 June 2020
SARS: Update PAYE BRS for employer reconciliation
In this version the descriptions of the source codes for the donations to the COVID19 Solidarity Fund has been amended, as well as the ETI fields to cater for additional ETI that may claimed as part of the COVID19 Tax Relief.
18 June 2020
SARS: Publication of an explanatory summary of the disaster management Tax Relief Administration Bill
SARS has issued a notice that the Minister of Finance intends to introduce the Disaster Management Tax Relief Administration Bill, 2020, in the National Assembly on 24 June 2020.
The Bill provides for tax measures in order to assist with alleviating cash flow burdens on tax compliant micro and small to medium-sized businesses arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and measures taken under the Disaster Management Act, 2002; to provide for the employees’ tax treatment of donations to the Solidarity Fund; to provide for a change in the value-added tax category of vendors to effect monthly returns and refunds and to provide for matters connected therewith.
01 June 2020
Transport Directive
- The 30 May ministerial directive on rail commuter services:
- makes no reference to 1 July as the target date for reopening lines referred to in Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula’s media statement, but
- simply requires the Passenger Road Agency of South Africa (Prasa) to ‘continue with the maintenance, servicing and testing of its fleet and (to) further sanitise and disinfect its stations and hubs’.
- The Gautrain’s airport service was scheduled to reopen on 1 June.
- According to the Minister, his 31 March directive on air services has been amended to:
- allow ‘limited domestic air travel for business purposes’ between four airports, subject to:
- restrictions on the number of flights per day, and
- ‘authorisation based on the reason for travel’
- prescribe drop-off and pick-up points
- determine who may enter a terminal building and the travel authorisations required, and to
- make pre-flight COVID-19 symptom screening mandatory.
- allow ‘limited domestic air travel for business purposes’ between four airports, subject to:
- The 30 May ministerial directive on road-based public passenger transport confirms that inter-provincial travel is permitted under specific circumstances set out in the 28 May disaster management regulations.
- The Minister’s statement confirms that ‘time restrictions’ applicable to all modes of public passenger transport by road have been ‘lifted’.
- ‘Capacity restrictions’ imposed under lockdown levels five and four remain in place.
27 May 2020
Guidance on vulnerable employees and workplace accommodation in relation to COVID-19
With many businesses resuming operations at the end of the month, the Department of Health has put together an interim guide to provide guidance to evaluate and manage vulnerable employees in the context of the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (No. 85 of 1993), the employer has an obligation to provide “a working environment that is safe and without risk to the health of his employees.” In addition, an employer has an obligation to ensure that in instances where hazards cannot be eliminated, they be appropriately controlled to prevent a risk of an adverse health outcome.
The major categories for vulnerable employees include:
- 60 years and older
- One or more of the underlying commonly encountered chronic medical conditions (of any age) particularly if not well controlled:
- chronic lung disease: moderate to severe asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), bronchiectasis, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, active TB and post-tuberculous lung disease (PTLD)
- diabetes (poorly controlled) or with late complications
- moderate/severe hypertension (poorly controlled) or with target organ damage
- serious heart conditions: heart failure, coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathies, pulmonary hypertension; congenital heart disease
- chronic kidney disease being treated with dialysis
- chronic liver disease including cirrhosis
3.Severe obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 40 or higher)
4. Immunocompromised as a result of cancer treatment, bone marrow or organ transplantation, immune deficiencies, poorly controlled HIV or AIDS, prolonged use of corticosteroids and other immune weakening medications
5.>28 weeks pregnant (and especially with any of co-morbidities listed above)
If you have employees who fit into the broad categories above, download the guidance document here.
20 May 2020
NICD clinical management of suspected or confirmed COVID-19 disease
The clinical spectrum of COVID-19 ranges from an asymptomatic or mild flu-like illness to severe pneumonia requiring critical care. These guidelines describe the clinical management of cases of COVID-19 disease, including clinical care in and outside of healthcare facilities, and are intended for use in both the public and private sectors.
The National Department of Health is committed to providing regular updates of guidelines, as knowledge regarding strategies to address COVID-19 develops both globally and in South Africa. This version of the guidelines provides updated and additional information on the diagnosis and management of patients with COVID-19, as well as specific guidance on the management of specific groups such as pregnant and breastfeeding women, children and people living with HIV.
14 May 2020
Directions regarding e-commerce sales during alert level 4
The Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition has issued Directions set out with regards to e-commerce sales during alert level 4. The purpose of these Directions is to provide direction on the goods which may be transacted through e-commerce platforms and the protocols which must be observed by retailer, couriers or delivery services and customers in respect of good transacted through e-commerce.
- Subject to all applicable laws, all goods may be transacted through e-Commerce platforms, except for goods prohibited for sale in terms of regulation 26 and 27 of the Regulations.
30 April 2020
Occupational Health & Safety Directive for all non-HCP businesses
There are now Occupational Health & Safety Measures that all businesses, apart from health facilities and practices, must adhere to. This applies to those who have been supplying essential goods this far, as well as those that may partially re-open from level 4 and down (those regulations are still being awaited).
For health facilities and HCPs: As physical distancing can, for example, not be practised when attending to a patient, a separate set of rules are expected. However, it is anticipated that many of the rules in the attached will, in any event, be applicable.
30 April 2020
National Treasury Emergency Procurement Response to the National State of Disaster
National Treasury has published the COVID-19 Disaster Management Central Emergency Procurement Strategy for PFMA Organs of State. This document is to provide instruction for a disaster management central emergency process for PPE. In light of the lockdown, emergencies may occur where normal procurement practices are impractical and, moreover, where there is high demand within a short time frame for good or services and special arrangements with service providers with proven capabilities can capacity to assist need to be made. Given the current global situation, it is clear that countries need to centralise their procurement for local and imported health products, not only to develop scales and prevent its regions from competing with each other for limited supplies, but also to scale up orders and arrange logistics.
The Acts are relevantly applicable to procurement are available on the National Treasury website.
30 April 2020
COVID-19 PPE Price List
The following price list was issued on 28 April 2020 with regards to personal protective equipment. Surgical masks for healthcare workers, gowns, biohazard bags, body bags and gloves (examination or surgical, sterile) can only be procured by the National Health Department.
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30 April 2020
Updated Recommended Guidelines for Fabric Face Masks
The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition has released an updated guideline on fabric face masks.
- In line with the Republic of South Africa’s Industrial Policy Action Plan10 (IPAP) and the Clothing, Textile, Footwear and Leather (CTFL) Master Plan’s policy objectives it is highly recommended that manufacturers source textiles made locally, by local manufacturers, when making fabric/cloth face masks.
- All textile/fabric quality recommendations for making fabric face masks, found within the guidance document, are qualities found in textiles that are locally made in the Republic of South Africa.
- It is imperative that fabric/cloth face mask manufacturers ensure that efforts to manufacturer masks are done within the broader context of supporting South Africa’s Clothing and Textile Industry, and our government’s efforts to ensure localisation of value-chains and boarder economic prosperity – in keeping with our country’s developmental objectives and Industrial Policy.
- Using three layers, selecting a non-woven (or similar) fabric with strong filtering capability (barrier efficiency) as the middle layer (with the accompanying inner and outer layers providing comfort, structure, and some additional protection) is recommended.
- The primary function of the middle layer is to trap or stop particles 5 microns and larger. It should have a barrier efficiency of at least 75%.
- If a filter layer is not used, the combination of the two layers must provide a 5-micron particle barrier efficiency of at least 75%.
- A user-guide MUST be supplied with a mask on how to wear and how to care for it.
24 April 2020
National Treasury: Further tax measures to combat COVID-19
Government recognises that the far-reaching lockdown measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus are having a significant impact on our economy. The Minister of Finance announced the details of an initial set of measures on 29 March 2020 to assist tax compliant businesses with cash flow assistance and provide an incentive for businesses to retain their lower-income employees. In line with the President’s address to the nation on 21 April 2020, the Minister of Finance provides more detail on the second set of measures that aim to assist individuals and businesses through the pandemic.
The interventions include:
- Skills development levy holiday
- Fast-tracking of value-added tax (VAT) refunds
- Three-month deferral for filing and first payment of carbon tax liabilities
- A deferral for the payment of excise taxes on alcoholic beverages and tobacco products
- Postponing the implementation of some Budget 2020 measures
- An increase in the expanded employment tax incentive amount
- An increase in the proportion of tax to be deferred and in the gross income threshold for automatic tax deferrals
- Case-by-case application to SARS for waiving of penalties
The following tax measures aim to assist individual taxpayers and to provide financial backing from the fiscus to donate to the Solidarity Fund:
- Increasing the deduction available for donations to the Solidarity Fund
- Adjusting pay-as-you-earn for donations made through the employer
- Expanding access to living annuity funds
22 April 2020
Risk-adjusted strategy for economic activity
There is early evidence that the full national lockdown imposed since 26 March 2020 has successfully limited the spread of the coronavirus. However, there are serious risks associated with lifting lockdown restrictions too soon, or in an unsystematic and disorderly manner. Restrictions on economic activity need to be adapted to epidemiological trends, and may need to be relaxed and tightened in different periods. An alert system should be created with clearly defined levels of restriction that can be imposed by the National Command Council as necessary.
To determine which sectors should be allowed gradually to resume activity, three criteria should be used:
- Risk of transmission (including the ease of implementing mitigation measures)
- Expected impact on the sector of continued lockdown (including prior vulnerability)
- Value of the sector to the economy (e.g. contribution to GDP, multiplier effects, export earnings)
A decision about whether to institute a lower alert level should be made by the National Command Council based on evidence gathered during this week about the spread of the virus.
16 April 2020
PMB Benefit Definition
The CMS PMB Benefit Definition document relating to COVID-19, including ICD10 coding and the very important instruction that schemes must fund Telehealth for PMBs (or as they describe it “at PMB level of care”, which the law in reg 8 says is “in full”)
14 April 2020
Implementation of the Preparedness and Upscaling Plan
The National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) is a public health laboratory service with laboratories across South Africa. The NHLS is the largest public health laboratory service with more than 233 laboratories across the nine provinces. The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the NHLS, provides reference microbiology, virology, epidemiology, surveillance and public health research and training in communicable diseases. Initially, the testing for COVID 19 was done by the NICD. When the volume of reference testing started growing and the first positive case was detected, the NICD requested the NHLS to start testing in the NHLS laboratories as from the 6th March. The NHLS had capacitated itself through the procurement of state of the art equipment in Virology laboratories in the country.
The NHLS has done a review of the capacity it will have to implement the rollout of the COVID-19 testing programme. Both currently and in the future, the NHLS will have sufficient capacity to successfully implement the programme. The NHLS is successfully managing the current demand, and in fact has more capacity than the demand. There is no backlog in testing, and the NHLS has requested that the provinces scale up its screening and referrals for testing. The NHLS management team had to work under extremely difficult conditions, in the face of global shortages and competition for equipment, to rapidly provide a service to manage the campaign.
14 April 2020
COVID-19 Disease: Infection Prevention and Control Guidelines
The published guideline provides guidance regarding infection prevention and control in healthcare facilities with specific reference to COVID-19. It should be read in conjunction with the National Infection Prevention and Control Strategic Framework and the Practical Manual for the Implementation thereof. These guidelines are likely to change as knowledge regarding strategies to address COVID-19 develop globally and in South Africa.
01 April 2020
Tax measures to combat the COVID-19 Pandemic
The Minister of Finance has announced the following exceptional tax measures as part of the fiscal package outlined by President Cyril Ramaphosa on 23 March 2020 in his speech on the Escalation of Measures to Combat COVID-19. The tax adjustments are made in light of the National State of
Disaster and due to the significant and potentially lasting negative impacts on the economy from the spreading of the COVID-19 virus. There is a critical need for government interventions to assist with job retention and assist businesses that may be experiencing significant distress.
31 March 2020
SOP for Business to request an update of critical supplies under COVID-19
This Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) acts as a guideline for Business in adding products to the established rebate item 412.11 list, as published by ITAC on their website. The requests need to be duly motivated to BUSA who will forward the request to the HS Team. The motivation is directed to BUSA, PMO office, Jonathan.q.james@pwc.com and Nadeem.mohamed@kpmg.co.za.
30 March 2020
Contact information for incentives
There are several incentives during the COVID-19 period. It is essential that you direct your queries to the correct person in order to expedite a response.
30 March 2020
National Infection Prevention and Control Strategic Framework
This strategic framework gives guidance to public and private health facilities and health workers on compliance with standards relating to IPC practices
30 March 2020
National Infection Prevention and Control Practical Manual for implementation
This practical implementation manual has been developed in parallel with the framework
27 March 2020
The solidarity fund uniting South Africa against COVID-19
On Monday night President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the creation of the Solidarity Fund. The Solidarity Fund is designed to unite the nation and to accelerate the country’s response to COVID-19. The focus of the fund is to alleviate the suffering and distress caused by the virus on our country and will mobilise the support of business and civil society in support of government’s efforts in response to COVID-19.
Details on how to donate will be available on the Fund’s website www.solidarityfund.co.za
For more information email info@solidarityfund.co.za
27 March 2020
NDoH: Rational medicine use during COVID-19 Pandemic
Due to this pandemic, there is now an increased global demand for pharmaceuticals and decreased active pharmaceutical ingredient production. It is anticipated that supply constraints may result. The National Department of Health (NDoH) is, therefore, making an urgent plea to all healthcare workers to take measures to promote rational medicine use.
27 March 2020
COVID-19 Temporary employee/employer relief scheme
In view of the declaration of the National Disaster, the Minister of Employment and Labour issued a Directive called COVID-19 Temporary Employee / Employer Relief Scheme. During this period of lockdown, companies will have to shut down and employees laid off temporarily. This means that employees are compelled to take leave, which is not out of choice. They, therefore, anticipate that employees may lose income. Employers are, however, encouraged to continue to pay employees, but where this is not economically possible; they have created a special benefit under the Unemployment Insurance Fund as per the Directive Covid -19 Temporary Employee / Employer Relief Scheme.
27 March 2020
Online BizPortal to register businesses that provide essential goods and services during the lockdown period
Continuing on what the minister stated in an earlier media release and the many challenges that were experienced by companies trying to make use of the portal, the dti released a media statement on the afternoon of 26 March stating that the site was fully functional. They ask that companies be patient through the registration process, as there are large volumes being experienced.
The service will continue to run beyond the lockdown hour and it is not a requirement that companies complete registration before the lockdown begins. Possession of a CIPC certificate does not constitute permission to operate during the lockdown. Companies may issue letters to their workers independent of the registration process, which must be done ahead of the lockdown hour.
25 March 2020
NRCS urges all South African to be vigilant when purchasing masks and chemical disinfectants
It has come to the attention of the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) that consumers are purchasing chemical disinfectants and particle filtering half masks in large quantities as part of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 epidemic. These products are subject to safety regulations administered by the NRCS to ensure that they do not present unnecessary risk to consumers. The regulations set out a hierarchy that must be taken into account when the safety of products is being assessed.
In light of this, the NRCS would like to urge consumers to only purchase chemical disinfectants and particle filtering half masks that have been approved by the NRCS and to use them in accordance with their instructions for use that either appear on the product itself or in a leaflet inserted inside the packages.
25 March 2020
Media briefing by Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Mr Ebrahim Patel
Minister of the dti, Ebrahim Patel, address the media on 24 March 2020 following the President address the night prior. He reiterated that saving lives must be the priority and that South Africa needs to draw on all our resources in the economy and within each of the major economic players to come through this with as little damage.
Across the world, more countries are now doing lockdowns and the dti wants to ensure that it is managed in strong partnership with our people, with large and small businesses, with workers and with consumers. He committed to providing more information over the next few days as they finalise programmes and interventions.
Mr Patel indicated that a package of more than R3 billion for industrial funding to address the situation of vulnerable firms and to fast-track financing for companies critical to our efforts to fight the virus and its economic
impact.
They have made two special interventions in this regard
- R500 million has been allocated for trade finance to import essential medical products;
- R700 million has been allocated for working capital and equipment and machinery
Mr Patel committed to publishing further guidelines on essential service ahead of the lockdown. This will include the essential personnel required for the continued functioning of the production and transportation of food, basic goods and medical supplies who will be exempt from stay-at-home measures.
The Minister overviewed the Solidarity Response Fund which is designed to unite the nation and to accelerate the country’s response to COVID-19. The Focus of the fund is to alleviate the suffering and distress caused by the virus to the country and will mobilise the support of business and civil society in support of government’s efforts in response to COVID-19.
The fund will primarily fund four key initiatives:
- Prevent: preventative and supporting measures to “flatten the curve” by lowering infection rates
- Detect: detect and understand the magnitude of the infection problem
- Care: assist with the management of those people in hospital or medical care
- Support: support those people whose lives are disrupted by COVID-19.
24 March 2020
SARS Letter to Business and Trade Associations – Impact of coronavirus on trade
SARS has communicated to the Customs and Excise stakeholders on the impact of COVID-19 on the services and activities of the different ports of entries. Stakeholder Management will communicate how customs functionalities are affected should there be additional changes.
