Following a meeting to discuss the future of school sports, the Department of Basic Education has made a decision.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the department confirmed that all contact sports will be suspended with immediate effect. 

"All sporting activities have been suspended with immediate effect until the clusters outbreak is subsequently over with no further cases reported including the prepatory school sport."

This suspension does not apply to non-contact sports, as they have been given the go ahead to continue.

"Non-contact sport training in schools can continue provided that all social distancing hygiene and safety measures are observed and there is no physical contact between participants during training."

This decision follows a recent increase in Covid-19 cases being reported in schools. 

"During the last week of term 1, school sports activity related Covid-19 outbreaks in Gauteng Province were reported and have been gradually increasing in Term 2."

The Outbreak Response Team (ORT) warned that learners taking part in contact sports would be at high risk of contracting the virus. 

As a result, no contact sporting activities will be taking place until all cluster outbreaks have been contained. 

A government gazette will be released soon, detailing how the suspension of school sports will go.