Year-end cheer for South Africans as midnight curfew lifted

FILE PHOTO: Vistors take in the sunlight at Camps Bay beach as the city experiences a subdued Christmas season after months of lockdowns and worries about the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Cape Town, South Africa, December 23, 2021. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings/File Photo

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africans cheered the government's decision to lift its midnight curfew after nearly two years of COVID-19 restrictions, a relief for businesses and citizens just ahead of New Year celebrations.

"(The past two years) have been hard on us, if you look at our neighbours most guys have closed down, that's how bad it was," said 32 year-old Michael Mchende, a manager at Hard Rock Cafe in Cape Town.