‘Abuse of power’: UDM joins legal action opposing extension of state of disaster

The United Democratic Movement (UDM) is set to join legal action by other organisations challenging the constitutionality of government’s decision to extend the national state of disaster.

UDM leader Bantu Holomisa confirmed on Wednesday that his party would join others in opposing the state of disaster as amicus curiae or friends of the court.

Holomisa said the UDM, along with 10 other political parties that met on Tuesday in Cape Town, agreed that the latest extension of the state of disaster was not necessary to manage the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa.

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‘There is no disaster’

Holomisa said he believed that government was abusing its power by extending the state of disaster, even though South Africa’s Covid-19 cases and hospitalisations were on a steady decline.

He said the sport, tourism and hospitality sectors were struggling due to the restrictions that come with the state of disaster and needed to be relieved.

“There was sufficient consensus among the 10 political parties that were there [in Cape Town] that this state of disaster is nothing else but an abuse of power by the powers that be because the scientific results on the ground indicate that there is no disaster,” Holomisa said in an interview with Talk Radio 702.

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The UDM leader said President Cyril Ramaphosa’s assures that the state of disaster would soon end, after government finalises other measures under the National Health Act, did not make any sense.

He said government could always enact the state of disaster again, under the Disaster Management Act, if the country goes through another wave of Covid-19 infections.

“Why must there be new legalisation because when we had the first person to be sick [from the virus] in this country, we never had new legislation… why do they want to have new legalisation?” he asked.

State of disaster extended

Amid growing calls from political parties and civil society for government to lift the state of disaster, the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs confirmed on Tuesday the latest extension until 15 April 2022.

Tuesday also marked two years since the national state of disaster was implemented by government at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.

Legal action

AfriForum on Tuesday announced that it would take government to court again, accusing it of being “power hungry” after extending the national state of disaster.

The lobby group began legal action in February to declare the station disaster invalid, arguing that there was currently no disaster in South Africa.

Meanwhile, ActionSA president Herman Mashaba said his party was exploring all possible avenues of challenging government’s decision because it feared this would still continue in the near future.

“This may include legal action and exploring collaboration with like-minded political parties to ensure the freedoms of South Africans is restored.

“There is no doubt that South Africans, like people all over the world, had to endure some limitations in the height of the pandemic to safeguard lives but we are past this point,” said Mashaba said in a statement.

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