THE Pretoria High Court on Tuesday declared that some lockdown regulations were invalid following a legal challenge by a civic organization on the basis that they are unconstitutional.
The high court has given the government 14 days to amend and republish the regulations in a way so they do not infringe on people’s rights.
South Africa’s lockdown began on March 27 and has been gradually relaxed, but it still bans the sale of cigarettes and prevents most businesses and factories from operating at full capacity.
The regulations also prohibit large public gatherings and restrict funerals to no more than 50 people.
In a statement on Tuesday, the government noted the court’s decision and said it would respond once it has studied the ruling.
It further said that Co-opertaive Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma will meet with Cabinet to review and amend the regulations.
“Government has taken note of the judgment delivered by the Gauteng Division of the High Court today, 2 June 2020, declaring the Alert Level 4 and Alert Level 3 Lockdown regulations unconstitutional and invalid. The court suspended the declaration of invalidity for a period of 14 days. This means that the Alert Level 3 regulations remain in operation for now.”
“The court has further directed the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, in consultation with the relevant Ministers to review, amend and republish the regulations with “due consideration to the limitation each regulation has on the rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights”.
South Africa currently has the highest number of confirmed virus cases in Africa with more than 34,000, including 705 deaths.
(Compiled by Inside Politics staff)
