Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698138031828.pdf (South Africa)
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FOR WRITTEN REPLY QUESTION NO.

1738 DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 04 JUNE 2021 (INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO.
16) Ms M D Hlengwa (IFP) to ask the Minister of Health: Whether, in light of the Government’s move to impose an adjusted Alert Level 2 lockdown on 30 May 2021 to curb the spread of COVID-19, the research information available to the Government justifies the requirement of everyone to wear face masks, including vaccinated persons; if not, what is the rationale for maintaining regulations criminalising failure to wear masks; if so, what are the further relevant details?
NW1949E REPLY: Government’s decision to move to an adjusted Alert Level 3 lockdown on 15 June 2021 to curb the spread of COVID-19 is based on sound scientific advice that takes into account the increase in the number of new cases reported over rolling 7 day period, the case fatality rate as well as the total number of deaths reported during the specified time period.
This information is reported and monitored daily across the 9 provinces supported by information from the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD).

To ensure the robustness of the processes to reach such a decision, Government has roped in various research and academia experts who provide sound clinical and technical advice through the Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC) on COVID-19.
One of the most effective and proven interventions for controlling and preventing the spread of COVID-19 is through the consistent practicing of non-pharmaceutical interventions – washing of hands, social distancing and wearing of masks.

The advisory from the MAC is that we as a country must continue to enforce these measures as part of the broader public health interventions including the vaccination programme.
The failure to wear a mask in public places will remain a criminal offence for the foreseeable future because the majority of South Africans are still to be fully vaccinated.

It must be noted and communicated to the public that neither testing nor receiving vaccines is a substitute for adherence to measures such as regular washing of hands, social distancing and mask wearing in public spaces or healthcare settings.
Therefore, even those that are considered to be fully vaccinated people should still wear a mask and socially distance in public spaces at all times.

END.