South Africa curfew: how to get permit to travel for work

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa approved reintroducing a night-time curfew in the country in a bid to curb the coronavirus crisis and the surging number of cases. Ramaphosa also implemented other measures that his administration deemed necessary in the African nation's battle with Covid-19, such as banning alcohol sales to help take some pressure off the healthcare system.

Ramaphosa stated that curfew hours will be enforced from 23:00 until 04:00 effective as of Monday. The South African government has not set a date for the end of the curfew restrictions yet. According to Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, South Africans who need to travel to perform essential and permitted services will require a permit to commute during curfew hours.

How and where to get the permit

Some mandatory information has to be provided for the permit including the employee's full name and ID number, home address and the name of the company/institution along with its physical address. The permit can be obtained through this website.

In addition, Ramaphosa noted in his speech that the country has reported a tally of 260,242 confirmed cases, with more than 12,000 new cases being reported every day.

“The coronavirus storm is far fiercer and more destructive than any we have known before. It is stretching our resources and our resolve to their limits,” he said. He also reiterated that the surge in cases the country is witnessing now was anticipated by scientists about 3 months ago. The experts forecast that the various provinces of South Africa will reach a peak of Covid-19 cases at different times between the end of July and late September.

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