Western Cape premier Alan Winde has been vocal about the province’s stance on the restrictions and has repeatedly called for the lifting of the national state of disaster.
He said the extension would delay efforts by the Western Cape to revive its economy and job creation.
“The bottom line is that we cannot be in a state of disaster indefinitely. We remain fully prepared to respond to further Covid-19 waves, and we will continue to invest in our vaccination programme to save lives. But the scientific evidence is clear: we no longer need a disaster act declaration to manage the pandemic, and we instead need to normalise our response through existing health legislation,” said Winde.
AfriForum and the citizen network group Dear SA on Tuesday said they will continue with their court action to force the department to remove the state of disaster.
“Many countries around the world have completely lifted regulations and measures as Covid-19 disappears. There have been no recorded deaths in SA for some time. There is no emergency as the pandemic no longer exists,” said Dear SA.
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EFF reaches out to artists over intellectual property as industry braces for another month of lockdown
The EFF on Tuesday invited artists to attend a consultative meeting on Thursday to discuss the laws that regulate their industry.
“Creatives of this country have been exploited for far too long due to poor regulation in the sector and undermining of their intellectual rights. The EFF will hold a consultative meeting with all creatives to ensure they play a role in crafting the laws that govern them,” said the party.
The bill and its partner legislation, the Performers’ Protection Amendment Bill, was debated by artists and MPs in parliament last year. They seek to regulate the entertainment industry and offer protection for performers and the copyrights of writers and publishers.
Experts and veteran artists argued it is “shambolic” and does not put the interest of the creative sector first.
The EFF’s call came amid the extension of the national state of disaster by the department of co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) to April 15. The state of disaster was expected to end on Tuesday.
Though most regulations have been scrapped with the gradual easing of lockdown since 2020, the entertainment industry continues to be among the industries hardest hit.
Under current regulations, gatherings are restricted to no more than 1,000 people indoors and no more than 2,000 people outdoors.
Cogta minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said the extension is to allow government to consider the “need to continue augmenting the existing legislation and contingency arrangements undertaken by organs of state to address the impact of the disaster”.
The national state of disaster has been in place since March 2020 to mitigate the risk and spread of Covid-19.
Western Cape premier Alan Winde has been vocal about the province’s stance on the restrictions and has repeatedly called for the lifting of the national state of disaster.
He said the extension would delay efforts by the Western Cape to revive its economy and job creation.
“The bottom line is that we cannot be in a state of disaster indefinitely. We remain fully prepared to respond to further Covid-19 waves, and we will continue to invest in our vaccination programme to save lives. But the scientific evidence is clear: we no longer need a disaster act declaration to manage the pandemic, and we instead need to normalise our response through existing health legislation,” said Winde.
AfriForum and the citizen network group Dear SA on Tuesday said they will continue with their court action to force the department to remove the state of disaster.
“Many countries around the world have completely lifted regulations and measures as Covid-19 disappears. There have been no recorded deaths in SA for some time. There is no emergency as the pandemic no longer exists,” said Dear SA.
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
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