DA to keep fighting act

THE DA has vowed to continue its fight against the Disaster Management Act despite the Constitutional Court dismissing its application for direct access this week.

The official opposition has been dragging the national government to court over the national lockdown regulations, accusing it of violating the rights of South Africans in terms of restrictions and exclusions of relief funds.

The party has, however, been faced with hurdles, with some of its cases being dismissed by the courts, including its latest bid at the apex court.

Yesterday, DA interim leader John Steenhuisen said the party would continue in its attempts to challenge the constitutionality of the act.

“What this now means – having been denied direct access to the country’s highest court – is that we will have to make our way more slowly through the court system in order to contest an issue with clear and urgent constitutional implications,” said Steenhuisen.

He added that the party was still convinced that the Disaster Management Act did not pass constitutional muster as it created no conditions for accountability of the executive who implemented it.

“The reason for this is that it has no provision for parliamentary oversight, and this means that the legislative and executive functions of the state have effectively been merged. Government’s National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) now fulfils both these roles,” he said.

Steenhuisen added that this had empowered the Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma to push for the indefinite extension of the Covid19 State of Disaster.

“Not even a State of Emergency places such unfettered and indefinite power in the hands of a minister or the executive,” he said.

Late last month, the DA legal challenge against the use of BBBEE policy by the government among criteria for Covid-19 relief funds was dismissed by the Pretoria High Court.

Last week, the Western Cape and Gauteng High Courts dismissed two applications relating to the act, one seeking to have the NCCC declared unconstitutional and the other challenging the tobacco ban.

While the party was not behind the applications, it challenged the legality of the NCCC and expressed opposition to the cigarette ban which has been in place since March when the national lockdown began.

Cabinet spokesperson Phumla Williams and Dlamini Zuma’s spokesperson, Lungi Mtshali, had not responded to questions by time of publication.