President Cyril Ramaphosa’s termination of the national state of disaster has received backing from big political parties, but some called for caution as the government plans to integrate some restrictions in the National Health Act.
Ramaphosa took to the podium on Monday evening to announce that the national state of disaster, first introduced in March 2020 when Covid-19 was detected in the country, would come to an end at midnight.
However, the president said government had put in place transitional measures for a period of 30 days. These include the wearing of face masks, which will continue to be compulsory except for outdoors events.
Restrictions on gatherings will also continue with 1 000 people indoors and 2 000 outdoors, while international travelers will need a proof of vaccination or a PCR test. The R350 social relief of distress grant also stays for now.
“Although the pandemic is not over, we can be confident that we are in a better position now. We are hopeful that the worst is behind us,” said Ramaphosa.
EFF spokesperson Sinawo Thambo said: “In what has been a long drawn-out series of unscientific, irrational, and inconsistent application of lockdown regulations, Cyril Ramaphosa has finally come to the realisation that the ad-hoc power provisioned by the pandemic cannot be sustained forever.”
Thambo said the pandemic exposed a government that dwells in the chambers of corruption even in the face of death, adding that it should be noted that Ramaphosa presided over the death of poor South Africans and oversaw corruption related to personal protective equipment.
“The corruption went to the highest level in his office, further confirming his complicity in corrupt activity.”
He promised that the EFF would scrutinise the National Health Act and the supposed pandemic regulations that would be integrated into the act.
“We must make sure this government does not smuggle regulations into law that will give them the power to micro-manage the political terrain and enhance their ability to conduct illegal and corrupt procurement,” he added.
The DA shared agreed with the EFF, saying it was worrying that despite the formal lifting of the state of disaster, the government now seemed hellbent on normalising the restrictions by introducing regulations to the National Health Act.
DA national spokesperson Cilliers Brink said the opposition party has penned a letter to Health Minister Joe Phaahla contesting the amendments.
“We call on all South Africans to scrutinise these proposed amendments and to lodge their objections before or on the 16th of April. We have suffered under these restrictions for 750 days. We cannot afford for it to be normalised,” Brink said.
But the IFP said it would continue to support any measures that are guided by international best practices.
Mkhuleko Hlengwa, IFP national spokesperson said: “We are further in full support of measures that are designed to give our ailing economy a much-needed ‘jab’ of its own.
“We hope that in the coming days and weeks, South Africans will be able to return to a semblance of ‘normal’ life. Let us continue to work together and rebuild and heal as a nation.”
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here.
