Covid-19: Additional Exempted Services added to regulations

COVID-19

ADDITIONAL EXEMPTED SERVICES ADDED TO REGULATIONS

Dear employer

The Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs has gazetted amended regulations in terms of which activities are considered to be essential during the lockdown.

A number of services as well as a few products have been added, the continuation of which is deemed to be essential.

The following products have been added to the regulations:

• products for the care of babies and toddlers; and
• personal toiletries, including haircare, body and face washes, antiperspirant, roll-ons, deodorants, toothpaste.

The following services have been added as essential services:

• tow trucks and vehicle recovery services;
• call centres necessary to provide health, safety, social support, government and financial services;
• harvesting and storage activities essential to prevent the wastage of primary agricultural goods;
• implementation of payroll systems to the extent that such arrangement has not been made for the lockdown, to ensure timeous payments to workers; and
• critical maintenance services which cannot be delayed for more than 21 days and are essential to resume operations after the lockdown.

The Department of Trade Industry and Competition has stated that registration as an essential service on the BIZPORTAL website is not a requirement for essential services to be rendered

but that a letter in terms of the regulations is sufficient.
Please click here to view a template letter.

We have also attached the permit as published in the regulations as we have received reports that some enforcement officers require the document in exactly this form. Employers are advised to provide their essential employees with both these documents.

PLEASE NOTE: Non-observance of these regulations or any attempts to circumvent the regulations by non-essential service providers are deemed to be a criminal offence.

Regards

We are all in this together.
Privileged and challenged to be South African.