Since the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in South Africa on 5 March, the government has always expected that it would spread far and wide throughout the country. One of the strictest lockdowns globally was enacted on 26 March but mostly as a means to give the South African health system time to adapt itself to the inevitable cases to come.
Cases remained relatively low during the first weeks, except in the Western Cape, but with the easing of the lockdown restrictions, cases began to climb further in the Western Cape, but then in the Eastern Cape and Gauteng. As of 16 July, South Africa was approaching 330,000 confirmed cases (6th highest caseload in the world with nearly 2.5 million tests) conducted still with many populated provinces like KwaZulu-Natal yet to experience their virus transmission peaks.
One year of COVID-19 pandemic
South Africa: Battling the second wave in three provinces
