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The DA and Freedom Front Plus (FF +) are approaching the courts to challenge the constitutionality of the legislation that allows the creation of the key decision-making body for government coronavirus decisions, putting the entire blockade under legal scrutiny. .
The National Command Council (NCC) is responsible for the strategy and regulations related to SA’s fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, and the criticism of the parties is that the lack of oversight or accountability of the agency challenges the principles of democracy. If the challenges to the Disaster Management Act are successful, the government-declared national disaster state and corresponding regulations could be declared unconstitutional.
The DA will also legally challenge the rationality of other regulations, such as the night curfew and restriction of exercise hours.
The party has already instructed its attorneys to challenge the alleged discriminatory use of the Covid-19 emergency aid fund and has requested the International Monetary Fund to condition the funds that the SA government obtains from them to their non-racial use or any other arbitrary criteria
Acting DA leader John Steenhuisen, who strongly opposes the continuation of the tough blockade and was disappointed by the failure of President Cyril Ramaphosa during Wednesday’s speech to the nation to announce the opening of the economy, said in a statement. that party attorneys will present Friday’s documents question the constitutionality of an aspect of the Disaster Management Act related to the NCC’s decision-making powers.
“Unless the law meets constitutional requirements, the decisions made by the NCC under this law are invalid. We will ask the court to apply the same supervisory provisions to the state of disaster as it does to the state of emergency, because without this supervision, the small authoritarians who are in power can run without control. ”
He believes that the NCC is capable of making “irrational” decisions because it is acting without any control or balance. There was no parliamentary oversight, which means the executive wrote the laws without debate.
“The state of disaster in which we are currently, governed by the Disaster Management Law, has zero provisions for parliamentary oversight. Which means that this NCC secret does not answer to anyone. Not even a state of emergency, which is a step beyond a state of disaster, has such radical powers without parliamentary oversight, “said Steenhuisen.
“This is an extremely important case, because it speaks of one of the most crucial principles in our democracy: the separation of powers. We have to fight this, because from here our democracy is on a very slippery slope. ”
The NCC’s “dictatorial folly” had resulted in a series of irrational regulations, which have nothing to do with fighting the coronavirus.
Steenhuisen has asked for public contributions to his legal challenge.
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