National state of disaster extended

CO-OPERATIVE Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has again extended the national state of disaster due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

She had previously extended the national state of disaster until tomorrow.

It will now run until May 15, according to a notice published in the Government Gazette yesterday.

Dlamini Zuma said she was taking into account the need to continue augmenting the legislation and contingency arrangements undertaken by organs of state to address the impact of the Covid-19 disaster.

Meanwhile, the Liberty Fighters Network (LFN) yesterday questioned Dlamini Zuma’s Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) challenge to the North Gauteng High Court ruling, declaring parts of the regulations passed during the national lockdown, unconstitutional and irrational.

The LFN has also taken issue with courts holding virtual hearings saying it mostly benefited parties who had the luxury of being legally represented.

The LFN’s Reyno de Beer has written to the SCA, stating that both the Constitution and the Superior Courts Act confirmed its right to a court hearing. De Beer has threatened that should the SCA insist on a virtual hearing, his organisation would immediately approach the high court to declare the virtual hearings unconstitutional and invalid.

On May 26, the SCA is expected to hear arguments in Dlamini Zuma’s application for leave to appeal Judge Norman Davis’s ruling.

The minister is challenging the ruling on the constitutional validity of disaster management regulations promulgated by Dlamini Zuma.

She is also questioning whether the rationality test was applied correctly by Judge Davis in assessing the regulations and whether the requirements for a valid court order were fulfilled.