From Sunday night, you could potentially go to jail in South Africa simply for being in a room with too many other people, like a church or a restaurant.
The rules for the new Level 3 lockdown, which were published by Cogta minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, introduce a whole new set of criminal offences for those who “attend” restaurants, religious gatherings or conferences that exceed their maximum headcount of 50 people indoors or 100 outdoors.
These new rules are immediately in force.
In earlier versions of rules on maximum occupancy for certain types of spaces, only organizers and venue managers were held responsible for adhering to the counts. However, under the latest version of Alert Level 4 which ended on Sunday after the publication of new regulations, people were threatened with jail for entering a church or sitting down in a restaurant.
Now that sit-down restaurants and churches may operate again, under special rules, the criminalization of attendees has still been maintained. The effect is that those who to such venues must count heads when entering and keep track continuously to ensure the limits aren’t breached while they are present.
“Any person who attends a faith based, religious, social, political or cultural gathering and who knows or ought reasonably to have known or suspected that the number of persons exceeds [50 people indoors and 100 outdoors] commits an offence and is, on conviction, liable to a fine or imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months or to both such fine and imprisonment,” reads the version of the rules for that type of activity.
The exact same approach is used when it comes to drinking and eating establishments: “Any person who attends a restaurant, bar, shebeen or tavern and who knows or ought reasonably to have known or suspected that the number of persons attending exceeds [50 people indoors and 100 outdoors] commits an offence and is, on conviction, liable to a fine or imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months or to both such fine and imprisonment.”
The obligation to count attendees also applies to “conferencing, exhibition, dining or entertainment” facilities.
Spectators at sporting events don’t have to do this as they aren’t allowed, if you attend a sporting match you are a criminal.
President Cyril Ramaphosa alluded to a criminal sanction in his address to the nation on Sunday, when he announced the move to Level 3, but without being explicit on who the criminals would be.
“The owners and managers of public buildings, centres, shops, restaurants, taxis and buses all have a responsibility to ensure that people on their premises or in their vehicles wear masks,” he said.
“They must also ensure that the appropriate social distancing measures are in place and are adhered to.
“It is important to remember that it is a criminal offence if the number of people on these premises exceeds the maximum number of customers or employees allowed.”
Sources: Business Insider
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