Unconstitutional

And there it is, the High Court has ruled that Level 4 and Level 3 regulations of South Africa's lockdown are unconstitutional and has given the government 14 days to respond. The High Court acknowledges the legality of the initial lockdown (Level 5) but the rest of the verdict is quite damning in saying the regulations were "arbitrary and unlawful".

Many of us have been expressing this view for a while and are sick of being patronised by corrupt politicians who suddenly feel they have the moral high ground when they really do not. State Capture anyone?

This is not an anti lockdown post, rather, as I said in a previous posts* most of us supported the initial lockdown and then supported the two week extension. However, after that things changed and given that South Africa is a Constitutional Democracy there had to be some level of negotiation with the nation over the purpose of any further lockdown and how it was to be conducted.  At no point has the govt entered in to any meaningful discussion / negotiation with the citizenry but rather they have been quick to criticize when people have had enough and breached lockdown rules, which we now know were unconstitutional.

There are two issues here which go hand in hand, firstly, SA is recognised by the World Bank as being the most unequal society in the world. What it means is the disparity between the wealthy and the majority is huge and there is no sign of that changing any time soon. So a vast swathe of the population live hand to mouth or a subsistence lifestyle. Secondly, the stated purpose of the lockdown was two-fold; to give the health services time to prepare and to flatten the curve by slowing the infection rate.

The purpose of lockdown was never to stop the spread of the coronavirus, that is not possible and no lockdown will ever achieve it. So after seven weeks it was job done as far as the lockdown was concerned and any extension would need to be negotiated not enforced. Also, those without the luxury of savings or being able to work from home (that would be the majority of the population) needed to get back to earning to provide for themselves and any family they might have. The reality is that when you're living hand to mouth economic issues take precedence over health issues and one would have expected this govt to understand that.

From what I have observed when I've been out and about during the lockdown is that the majority of people flouting the rules were doing so because they had little choice but to if they were going to provide for themselves and family members. Very little of the rule flouting was from a lack of understanding, but rather it was people sorting themselves out in the face of massive govt failures to assist. That's a whole other topic for a rant!

Back to the unconstitutional regulations... we now sit in this ludicrous position where for example, it is perfectly legal to exercise along the beach front promenade but it is illegal to exercise on the beach. This is the tip of the iceberg of nonsensical regulations and sadly the list goes on...

Quite what the ruling by the High Court means in terms of the government's next steps is unclear, but one thing is very clear, things have to change.

*
The Lunatics Are Running The Asylum!
Anger Is Growing
Happy Level 4 Lockdown Day