JOHANNESBURG, April 8, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – South African President Cyril
Ramaphosa on Wednesday placed on special leave a minister seen lunching at a
friend’s house in violation of the coronavirus lockdown.
Ramaphosa has ordered a three-week national lockdown to try to brake the
virus, which has infected 1,749 people, killing 13 of them, according to an
official tally.
But a picture posted on Instagram on Sunday showed Communications and
Digital Technologies Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams having lunch with five
other people at the home of a former deputy minister earlier that day.
“President Ramaphosa has placed the Minister on special leave for two
months,” the presidency said in a statement.
Ramaphosa has “accepted the minister’s apology for the violation but was
unmoved by mitigating factors she tendered,” it said.
“The nation-wide lockdown calls for absolute compliance on the part of all
South Africans,” Ramaphosa was quoted as saying.
“None of us — not least a member of the national executive — should
undermine our national effort to save lives in this very serious situation,”
said Ramaphosa. “No-one is above the law.”
Last month, just two days into the lockdown, Social Development Minister
Lindiwe Zulu was forced to issue an apology after she posted a video on her
Instagram account, joking about how she was struggling to stay home.