Dlamini-Zuma says 2000 fans can attend Bafana’s Tuesday clash

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has amended level 1 lockdown regulations under the Disaster Management Act to allow a limited number of fans back into stadiums.

Regulations

According to the amended regulations, spectators at the venue of the sports events are permitted, however, they are limited to 750 persons or less for indoor and 2,000 persons or less for outdoor venues.

“If the venue is too small to hold the prescribed number of persons observing a distance of at least 1.5m from each other, then not more than 50% of the capacity of the venue may be used, subject to strict adherence to all health and protocols and social distancing measures,” the document further states.

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The comes after government started rolling out its Covid-19 vaccine certificate system last week.

If fully vaccinated, citizens are eligible to receive a digital vaccine certificate containing a QR code. The code can be either downloaded or printed.

More than 19 million vaccines having been administered as of Sunday.

World Cup qualifier

The move to allow fans also comes as Bafana Bafana is set to play Ethiopia in their 2022 Qatar Fifa World Cup qualifier at FNB Stadium on Tuesday.

The match kicks off at 6pm.

Bafana have seven points from three matches, one ahead of second-placed Ghana in Group G after defeating Ethiopia 3-1 away from home on Saturday.

The South African Football Association (Safa) announced recently that a limited number of fully vaccinated fans would get a free entry for Tuesday’s World Cup qualifier match.

READ MORE: Bafana stun Ethiopia to grab huge boost on the road to Qatar

This will be the first time since the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic in March last year that sporting fans will be allowed attend a live football match at a stadium.

Safa president Danny Jordaan previously welcomed the decision to allow vaccinated fans to return to the stadiums, saying the initiative would help the government’s drive to get many citizens get their jabs.

It remains to be seen whether the Premier Soccer League (PSL) will follow suit in announcing the return of fans to attend upcoming league matches in the DStv Premiership.

The PSL said last week that fans were still banned from stadiums matches unless “there are new regulatory changes”.

Additional reporting by Khaya Ndubane