Communications and digital technologies Minister, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, has published a gazette with additional rules for couriers and retailers under South Africa’s adjusted level 4 lockdown.
Ndabeni-Abrahams said that these additional rules should be read alongside the existing regulations that were published in May 2020, concerning e-commerce.
The additional rules for couriers include:
- Couriers must be thermal scanned daily and must sanitise throughout the day;
- All equipment and materials used must be sanitised more than once daily;
- Courier drivers must be equipped with face masks;
- Sanitisation processes must be in place upon actual delivery of parcels and other items to consumers;
- Vehicles must be sanitised daily before the commencement of a shift;
- All directions in respect of health protocols and social distancing to prevent the exposure of persons to Covid-19 must be adhered to from packaging and distribution to deliver,
Current regulations state that courier and delivery personnel must maintain a distance of at least one and a half metres from other drivers and customers when making deliveries. They are also prohibited from entering the residence of a customer if the customer is not wearing a face mask.
Rules for retailers
Retailers are currently permitted to sell all goods, except the prohibited items such as alcohol, online. However, regulations state that they should give prominence to items that were manufactured in South Africa as encouragement to shop local and help the country’s economy.
Additional rules include:
- Retailers must provide for as many payment options as possible for consumers, that are based on reducing risks of transmission, and enabling poorer consumers to access delivery services.
- When packaging goods, retailers must provide written guidelines for customers on how to safely disinfect their goods before use.
- Retailers must put in place collection protocols to ensure that adequate social distancing is maintained by courier or delivery service personnel when collecting goods from a warehouse or depot.
- All goods must be sanitised, in line with the guidelines published by the National Department of Health, before leaving the warehouse or depot.
Sources: Business Tech, BlackMediaDaily.com
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