Proposed lockdown powers shift worries DA

The DA has accused the government of trying to revive the national state of disaster by stealth with its proposed changes to regulations to the National Health Act.

Health Minister Joe Phaahla flighted amendments to three sets of regulations to the National Health Act and to regulations to the International Health Act on March 15, with a 30-day public comment period that closes at the end of this week.

The changes are part of the government’s plan to create an alternative legislative framework to regulations it imposed under the national state of disaster, declared in terms of the Disaster Management Act.

It lifted the national state of disaster on April 5 in response to mounting legal and political pressure to end restrictions that many observers felt acted more as a brake on economic activity than an effective way of slowing the spread of the disease.

“It is very clear that the regulations were drafted with the sole purpose of shifting lockdown powers to the minister of health,” said DA health spokesperson Michele Clark.

They were “plainly drafted to create an alternative avenue for the ANC government to gain unregulated power, which will certainly be used for corruption”, she said.

IMMUNITY

The regulations had been drafted without considering the latest scientific evidence on Covid-19, the fact that the majority of South Africans had developed some form of immunity to the disease, and that the current daily infection and death rates are substantially lower than they were during waves driven by previous variants, she said.

SA has experienced four waves of coronavirus infection,

While cases rose sharply during the most recent Omicron-driven wave, there was only a modest increase in new hospital admissions, which are now at their lowest level since May 2020. New weekly hospital admissions stand at 542, according to Our World in Data.

Clark said the regulations would give the health minister permanent power to lock down citizens, force Covid-19 vaccination and compel people to undergo medical examinations, tests and treatments for certain notifiable diseases.

“These regulations will also place undue burdens on employers and various establishments, and possibly violate individual rights and freedoms of those persons who test positive for the virus — all while having no demonstrable effects on reducing the spread of Covid19,” said Clark.

“In SA, unemployment lines keep growing and instead of doing everything in its power to halt the economic decline, the ANC government seems focused on holding on to illgained powers,” she said.

THESE REGULATIONS WILL ALSO PLACE UNDUE BURDENS ON EMPLOYERS AND POSSIBLY VIOLATE INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS