DA heads to court over lockdown measures
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will on Thursday file papers in the high court challenging the rationality of three separate lockdown-related issues.
The party is unhappy with the regulations around the night curfew, the ban on e-commerce and the restriction on exercise hours.
DA interim leader John Steenhuisen said on Thursday that the party believes all three regulations should be immediately reversed.
He says there are no rational justifications for the regulations.
"But it also has to be said that all these irrational decisions are taken by the (COVID-19) National Command Council because they are acting without any checks and balances.
"The state of disaster we are currently under, governed by the Disaster Management Act, has zero provision for parliamentary oversight. Which means this secretive National Command Council answers to no one.
"Now consider that not even a state of emergency, which is a further step up from a state of disaster, has such sweeping powers with no parliamentary oversight," added Steenhuisen.
READ: Full list of what could be permitted under Level 3 lockdown
The party's lawyers will on Friday also file court papers challenging the constitutionality of some aspect of the Disaster Management Act.
Steenhuisen believes, unless the act passes constitutional muster, the decisions taken by the National Command Council are invalid.
"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.
"We have an executive branch of government – Cabinet – and a separate legislative branch – Parliament – 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 warns without this oversight "petty authoritarians hopped up on power are allowed to run amok".
