Heads must roll, says Steenhuisen as he prepares DA for court action against lockdown

Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen will today announce the party’s court action against government’s lockdown regulations.

The DA has called for the national Covid-19 lockdown to end “swiftly”, following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s address on Wednesday evening.

According to Steenhuisen, the lockdown has destroyed more lives than it has saved, with millions of jobs lost.

“The DA supported the first three-week national lockdown, to buy time to gather healthcare resources and prepare hospitals. Sadly, this did not happen, except in the Western Cape. Heads must roll.

“The initial lockdown was also an opportunity to build test, track, trace capacity so that a smart lockdown (localised lockdowns) could be pursued. Sadly, this has not happened, except in the Western Cape. Heads must roll.

“The last two to four weeks of lockdown have not been necessary, rational or justified. Cyril Ramaphosa is being disingenuous in suggesting that the lockdown has saved lives. It has merely delayed the peak. But the peak is inevitable whether we lock down or not.

“It is not a rational strategy and has not been so for weeks. It is irrational and disproportionate to the scale of the risk that Covid-19 poses, relative to other risks. And it has not been supported by an adequate safety net for poor people and small businesses,” said Steenhuisen.

His party will take the matter to court, and a further announcement will be made today.

📺| Today at 12pm, DA Leader @jsteenhuisen will make an announcement regarding the DA’s latest court action against government's  lockdown regulations.

Watch this live from our DA Facebook and YouTube account.#Day49ofLockdown pic.twitter.com/KqewFM0KEx

— Democratic Alliance (@Our_DA) May 14, 2020

Notice: Coronavirus reporting at Caxton Local Media aims to combat fake news

Dear reader,
As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19.
Readers with any comments or queries may contact National Group Editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or Legal Adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za).