Opposition parties, civil society and business groups have welcomed the government’s move to lift South Africa’s national state of disaster after almost two years – but almost all of them caution that the government has not totally relinquished control.
“The national state of disaster is ending in name, but the government is not relinquishing its regulatory powers obtained under it – this is what yesterday’s announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa entailed,” said business group Sakeliga.
“In the next few weeks, businesses, churches, employees, schools, universities, civil society organisations, and the public in all other spheres of society need to decide whether or not to comply with the new regulatory regime. Crucial decisions lie ahead, about not only litigation but also compliance and refusal, in the face of such abuse of power by the state.”
“The new health regulations amount to the permanent legal enactment of supposedly temporary measures afforded to the government under the Disaster Management Act. This means that most of the Covid-19 measures will remain in place, and some measures that were struck down in court such as forced quarantine will take effect again.”Normalising restrictions
“It seems that president Ramaphosa has reneged on his word when he promised South Africans that no one will be forced to receive the Covid-19 vaccination, or that South Africa would soon do away with the national state of disaster and accompanying regulations.”
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