The Forum 4 Service Delivery (F4SD) noted the drastic restriction measures on travel and mass events to avoid spreading the virus.

Party leader Mbahare Kekana said they were worried about land borders and whether the borders would "remain open or half closed".

Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen said the DA welcomed the measures and called for parties to put politics aside in the interest of the country and citizens.

"Now, more than ever, we must put politics aside if we are going to succeed in the fight against COVID-19," he said.

"We urge all South Africans to observe these measures very closely and to take every precaution necessary to avoid possible infection with, or transmission of, the COVID-19 virus. This is a crisis of the collective, affecting us all either directly or indirectly. We must band together to formulate a collective response to this virus in order to overcome it," he said.

In a televised address to the nation on Sunday night, President Cyril Ramaphosa said confirmed COVID-19 cases now stood at 61, at least one of which was a result of internal transmission.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday declared COVID-19 a pandemic. According to the WHO, 142,539 cases had then been confirmed, with 5393 deaths as of March 14. China reported 81,021 confirmed cases and 3194 deaths. Outside of China, there were  61,518 confirmed cases and 2199 deaths in 134 countries.

African News Agency