Ramaphosa made remarks during his address to the nation on Saturday evening. 

The president announced that the lockdown would be eased to level 2, opening up more of the economy as the Covid-19 infection rate shows signs of declining. 

“We will use this moment not only to return South Africa to where it was before but to transform our country to a more equal, more just and more dynamic economy. Difficult days still lie ahead however we have proven our resilience in the past five months,” Ramaphosa said. 

The economy has taken a beating over the past five months with predictions that GDP could contract by between 6% and 14% in 2020.

The decision by the government to impose a hard lockdown has also led to a job’s bloodbath, with over 3 million jobs lost since the end of March. 

However, Ramaphosa said the rebuilding phase will be used to transform the country’s economy. 

“We will use this time to transform our country to a more equal more just and more dynamic economy.

“We are now working together on an urgent economic recovery programme that places the protection of creation of employment at its sector, focussing on infrastructure and a number of sectors of our economy.”

In the last 24 hours leading to Saturday, the country recorded another 4 513 confirmed cases of Covid-19, taking the cumulative number of cases to 583 653.

The country also recorded another 212 Covid-related fatalities.

The death toll now stands at 11 677.

Jacaranda FM