Following weeks of congestion and panic due to delays caused by infection control measures, President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday night announced the closure of SA's biggest land border posts until 15 February.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Monday that South Africa's large land border posts would be closed until 15 February for all but a few exceptions, in an effort to address extreme congestion and high infection risk as thousands of people tried to return after the festive season.

Retail sales of alcohol remain banned and Ramaphosa said an announcement on the reopening of the schools could be expected soon.

He addressed the nation as South Africa saw 190,000 new coronavirus infections and 4,600 deaths in the first 11 days of 2021.

"Nearly half a year has passed since I spoke to you about the coronavirus storm that was sweeping across our nation. I said that the coronavirus storm is far fiercer and more destructive than any we have known before. We are now in the centre of the storm. We do not know how much longer it will last or how much worse it will get. But we know what we need to do to weather the storm. We...