Judgment reserved in government appeal against lockdown regulations

Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s application for leave to appeal has been reserved, the High Court in Pretoria ruled on Wednesday.

The judgment comes after the high court had initially declared various regulations governing Levels 3 and 4 as unconstitutional and invalid following an urgent application that was brought by the Liberty Fighters Network (LFN) and Hola Bon Renaissance Foundation.

Dlamini-Zuma’s lawyers argued in her application, that Judge Norman Davis had erred in striking down the disaster regulations.

Speaking on Thursday, Davis once again highlighted the time-sensitivity of the matter, adding that he had taken this fact into consideration. 

“The previous judgment was granted under extreme time pressures and in print of short term, I will, having regard to the nature of the application, and the stressed importance of urgency also adhere to similar time frames but not bind myself to a specific date.” 

“It will be shortly that judgment will be handed down, the parties will be informed electronically and it will be uploaded on caselines but until then, judgment is reserved,” ruled the judge.

State defence attorney Wim Trengrove asked that if an appeal is granted, it should be heard at the Supreme Court on an urgent basis given the importance and magnitude of the matter. 

Conversely, Advocate Reg Willis and LFN president Ryno De Beer argued that there are no compelling reasons for the matter to be heard in a higher court and that the court should therefore not grant it. 

Trengrove further argued that the state has had to balance the protection of the right to life with other material rights in deciding on the regulations and therefore based their decision on that, in addition to other factors. 

Advocate Wim Trengrove SC, for the minister, responding to arguments that the regulations hit the poorest of the poor the hardest: “Government is acting in defence of the poor”. #LockdownAppeal

— Bernadette Wicks (Wolhuter) (@bern_wicks) June 24, 2020

The advocate also highlighted the need for sufficient detail for the regulations which were declared unconstitutional as this would then inform the minister of which regulations were deemed irrational and why so that her department could act accordingly.  

According to Trengrove, the wholesale declaration declaring all of the regulations invalid was unjustified, as only some regulations were found to be invalid. 

Willis countered the argument by stating that it wasn’t necessary for Judge Davis to list each and every regulation that was deemed invalid if one accepts that its a full-frontal attack on the wholesale regulations.

Willis: “There’s simply no defence that’s raised. The problem here ultimately is a deficiency in the state’s case” #LockdownAppeal

— Bernadette Wicks (Wolhuter) (@bern_wicks) June 24, 2020

De Beer: “Who is most affected by this judgment? It's the ordinary people in the street". #LockdownAppeal

— Bernadette Wicks (Wolhuter) (@bern_wicks) June 24, 2020

You can watch the proceedings here:

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