The South African government has introduced new, wide-reaching regulations that will allow it to track the whereabouts of anyone on a national database that is being developed, and that will list people who have come into contact with individuals confirmed to be infected with COVID-19 or who have tested positive themselves.

The new regulations, published today, introduce a tracking system unlike anything South Africa has seen before. They will allow the government to know precisely where someone is, and to trace their movements. The regulations take advantage of the fact that so many people in South Africa have mobile phones that they take everywhere with them. Using information obtained from phones, the new system will keep tabs on people and allow the authorities to track the location of anyone and where they have been.