President Cyril Ramaphosa said people will still be expected to social distance, wear masks and wash their hands for a while.

He used his weekly newsletter on Monday to warn that "it will not be life as we knew it before" even as restrictions are being eased.

He said:

We will introduce new measures to make contact tracing more effective. We will need to implement mass sanitisation of workplaces, public transport and other spaces."

He warned that the number of infections is expected to increase. South Africa has passed the 10,000 mark of new infections.

South Africans are on the first phase of easing of restrictions