Will the national state of disaster end today? Here’s why Dear SA believes it won’t

UPDATE: The national state of disaster was extended on Tuesday morning to April 15.

Dear SA is not optimistic that the government will lift the national state of disaster on Tuesday.

The group recently joined forces with AfriForum to take the government to court to force it to lift the state of disaster which has been in place for two years. 

It said this was in response to a notice it received from Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, minister of co-operative governance and traditional affairs, in which she expressed the department’s intention to possibly extend the national state of disaster again.

“On March 10, the government confirmed that it is indeed considering extending the state of disaster. The reason is that it requires more time to finalise alternative legislation to manage Covid-19 in anticipation of a fifth wave,” said Dear SA.

Last year, the organisation launched petitions on the state of disaster and mandatory vaccinations.

It says it has received over 270,000 comments and will continue with its court action to represent the masses. 

“We must also query why the SA government insists on clinging to these emergency powers, attempting to make them permanent as other countries have returned to normal and abandoned restrictions. Two years of civil rights erosion have had an unacceptable adverse effect on our economy, livelihoods and wellbeing,” the group said.

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Sunday Times reported the National Coronavirus Command Council was set to meet on Monday to deliberate on alternative regulations.

It cited government insiders who said the deliberations were mired with disagreements and concerns over the amount of regulatory authority the health department would have on managing the pandemic once it is no longer regulated by the National Disaster Management Act.

Insiders privy to the discussions told the paper President Cyril Ramaphosa will inform the nation of its decision in a national address. 

TimesLIVE ran a poll on Monday asking what changes, if any, readers expected to lockdown restrictions. More than 50% said they wanted the national state of disaster scrapped and the country to fully reopen. 

22% were less optimistic, saying the government would extend it once more.