The Western Cape is the latest to be hit by a string of incidents.

Cele visited the province on Saturday where he vowed to crack down on illegal alcohol sales and looters.

“Alcohol and the problem of alcohol cannot be the centre of complaints when we are facing such a serious problem, such catastrophic issues that the world is facing,” Cele said.

“Sober up, we are facing serious matters here.”

Cele urged residents to be more tolerant of the lockdown regulations, warning that violation of regulations put the country at risk of a further disaster.

Drawing on the global context, Cele said: “In the United States, the figures we got this morning is that in 24 hours, 2 000 people died … that figure can visit us here … it is a matter of life and death … the economy itself is suffering … people are losing jobs, there will be liquidations … alcohol cannot be the centre of complaint when we are dealing with such a serious problem.

“We believe if we do things correctly the situation might end and change by month-end and go back to normal.”

On Thursday, President Cyril Ramaphosa extended the national lockdown by a further two weeks.

The lockdown is now expected to last until the end of April.

Jacaranda FM