The South African government has lifted most restrictions in the country as officials declare the country “may have passed the peak of the fourth wave.” Restrictions are being removed “[b]ased on the trajectory of the pandemic, the levels of vaccination in the country and the available capacity within the health sector,” according to a government statement from Mondli Gungubele, South Africa’s minister in the presidency. “All indicators suggest the country may have passed the peak of the fourth wave at a national level,” the statement reads, citing a decrease in new cases and hospitalizations in most provinces. The country’s Department of Health reported a 29.7 decrease in the number of new cases detected in the week ending Dec. 25, compared to the number of cases found in the previous week, at 127,753. The government will remove a curfew that applied from midnight to 4 a.m. and ease limits on gatherings. “Gatherings are …