President Cyril Ramaphosa says that he is hesitant to lift South Africa’s national state of disaster as the government may need to rely on the legislation in the coming months.<\/p>\n
Ramaphosa told TimesLive<\/a><\/strong> that the government was dependent on the legislation to respond to potential Covid-19 waves in South Africa going forward.<\/p>\n “I wish it could end today. I really wish we could say that the state of disaster has ended. We are guided by science, the signs of the pandemic and the Ministerial Advisory Committee guides us in all this.<\/p>\n “There is fear and concern that there could be another wave. What if there is another wave and tomorrow I announce that the state of disaster has ended? Then we have to go back to a state of disaster again.”<\/p>\n The government declared a national state of disaster under Section 27(1) and Section 27(2) of the Disaster Management Act on 15 March 2020 in response to the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n While the national state of disaster was originally set to lapse on 15 June 2020, the Act provides that it can be extended by the Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs minister by notice in the gazette for one month at a time before it lapses.<\/p>\n The government has relied on the regulations to introduce and give effect to lockdown restrictions, which it has used to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n However, it has also faced criticism for giving national government wide-ranging powers over the lives of citizens, with almost no limits and little to no oversight from parliament.<\/p>\n