Dlamini-Zuma extends State of Disaster by another month

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogota) Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, on Thursday confirmed that the National State of Disaster would be extended for another month.

State of Disaster extended

Extended until 15 September

The changes were gazetted on Thursday – in issue 44986 – under section 3 of the Disaster Management Act of 2002 in terms of section 27(5)(c).

Dlamini-Zuma said she considered the “need to continue augmenting the existing legislation and contingency arrangements undertaken by organs of state to address” the impact of the Covid-19 disaster.

The current National State of Disaster is due to expire on 15 August, after Dlamini-Zuma announced the previous extension on 10 July, with the changes gazetted two days later.

ALSO READ: Take a look at the proposed changes to SA’s Disaster Management Act

Multiple extensions

Prior to the most recent extension, the State of Disaster laws were extended from 15 June to 15 July. These multiple extensions have come under fire.

Many have argued that the Disaster Management Act give the government complete freedom to act as it wishes by extending the State of Disaster without parliamentary oversight.

The State of Disaster will likely be extended again on 15 October, despite the Covid-19 infection rates decreasing.

That said, a cursory look at the latest report on weekly deaths calls attention to the increase in deaths in SA to unprecedented levels.

READ MORE HERE: Covid-19 deaths in SA likely much higher than reported

Covid-19 cases in South Africa

As of Wednesday, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) reported that 7,502 new Covid-19 cases had been identified in the country, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 2,554,240.

“This increase represents an 18.9% positivity rate,” reported the institute.

In addition, 573 new deaths were recorded, bringing the death toll to 75,774 since the pandemic was first declared in South Africa.