If the Democratic Alliance (DA) had its way, the hard lockdown would come to an immediate end as the party believes that its severity has destroyed more lives than it has saved.

“We have to end the national hard lockdown and we have to do it now,” DA interim leader John Steenhuisen said on Thursday, 14 May. 

The DA will be filing court papers challenging the “constitutionality” of the Disaster Management Act. Steenhuisen argued that if the Act does not meet “constitutional muster, it means the decisions taken by the National Command Council under this Act are not valid”.

“Yes, there is a threat – a very real and scary threat – right outside our door, but it’s not going to go away,” Steenhuisen said. “Remaining in hard lockdown until at least the end of May, and possibly even longer, is not good enough.” 

The DA will file papers in the High Court on 15 May 2020, challenging the rationality of three separate lockdown-related issues: the night curfew, the ban on e-commerce and the restriction on exercise hours.

Steenhuisen added that the DA believes the National Command Council, which is at the centre of decision-making in the government’s response to curbing the spread of Covid-19, is acting without any checks and balances.

“This is an extremely important case because it speaks to one of the most crucial principles in our democracy – the separation of powers,” he said, adding that the executive, Cabinet and Parliament were separate entities for a “very good reason”. 

“But right now, because of this lack of oversight, the executive is effectively doing the job of writing our laws and regulations as they please, bypassing all the debate and possible opposition that would’ve happened in Parliament,” Steenhuisen said. 

This comes after President Cyril Ramaphosa gave his fifth national address on Wednesday, 13 May, saying that the lockdown had achieved its purpose and without it, at least 80,000 South Africans would have been infected and the country’s death toll would be eight times higher. 

“The purpose of the lockdown was to delay the spread of the virus and delay infections. We have been successful,” Ramaphosa said, adding that government was considering easing the lockdown to level 3 in certain parts of South Africa at the end of May 2020.

But the DA insists this is not good enough. “We called on the president to end the hard lockdown a month ago and he has had every opportunity to act since then,” Steenhuisen said. “Yet, last night he told us to stay put for at least another two weeks. We don’t have another two weeks.”

“No matter how long we choose to stay on this side of the door, it will still be waiting for us on the other side,” Steenhuisen said. 

Commenting on the DA’s plan, ANC Caucus Spokesperson Nomfanelo Kota said: “The DA continues to show its true colours daily – that they do not value lives; are spoilers and have no programme to take the country forward. Since 1994, they have voted against all laws that have sought to bring about change in our country and the lockdown situation magnifies their tendencies.” DM