Essential baby items, clothing can be sold in lockdown

Essential baby items and clothing may be sold in stores during the 21-day lockdown, the department of co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) said on Thursday.

“Following requests for clarification, we confirm that this provision includes baby clothes, blankets, towels and other essential accessories for newborns, infants and toddlers up to 36 months old,” said minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

“To ensure the effectiveness of the lockdown in containing the spread of Covid-19, all stores that are currently permitted to remain open for the sale of other essential goods, including supermarkets, may therefore sell these products.”

The regulations were amended in the Government Gazette on March 25-26 to include “products for care of babies and toddlers” as essential goods.

Dlamini-Zuma said her department had been in contact with the CEOs of large retailers, who had “undertaken to sell these products at prices which simply cover their basic costs of production and distribution for the period of the lockdown”.

“Hospitals and clinics may directly procure these products as necessary to provide for the infants in their care,” she added.