Schools will be closed and a travel ban will be in place from Wednesday as SA tries to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

On top of this, all gatherings of more than 100 people will be “prohibited”.

President Cyril Ramaphosa made these announcements as part of the country's fight against the spread of coronavirus, which has now infected at least 61 people.

He said that this number was “expected to rise in the coming days and weeks”.

“Initially it was people who have travelled outside the country, especially Italy. It is concerning now that we are dealing with internal transmission of the virus,” he said, without providing further details.

"Never before in the history of our democracy has our country been confronted with such a severe situation," said Ramaphosa.

He said that, despite the religious, social and economic implications of the decisions, they were necessary because of the severity of the virus and its rapid spread.

He said there was no time for “half-measures”.