The government’s decision to extend the State of Disaster for yet another month has been met with criticism and dismay from health experts and opposition parties, reports MedicalBrief. In February, Cabinet approved what it said would be the “final extension” of the State of Disaster to 15 March.
It is now due to expire on 15 April 2022 – more than two years since it was first declared in response to the pandemic.
The Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand, Prof Shabir Madhi, has called the decision “indicative of the National Coronavirus Command Council being devoid of any understanding of the pandemic”, reports Daily Maverick.
The NCCC had met on Monday (15 March) to consider alternative COVID-19 regulations, News24 reports, however this latest decision, announced on Tuesday, is understood to have been a result of the council’s failure to decide on new measures.
After a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday last week, Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele had said that while the government had “clear intentions” to lift the State of Disaster, there was a need for caution to ensure no vacuum was left in terms of measures to manage COVID-19.
The State of Disaster was first declared on 15 March 2020: 23 March will mark two years since President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the country would go into a 21-day hard lockdown, which began on 26 March 2020.
Two years on and South Africa is still in lockdown, albeit on Adjusted Alert Level 1, with the latest amendments announced on 31 January.
While the economy has largely opened under Level 1 regulations, restrictions on the number of people at religious, social and cultural gatherings remain in place, and masks are still mandatory.
On 9 February 2022, Cabinet approved what it said would be the “final extension” of the State of Disaster to 15 March, after it had been scheduled to end on 15 February.
The latest extension comes despite increasing calls from health experts, opposition parties and business associations to scrap the regulations totally.
Responding on Twitter, Madhi said that it was “foolish” to still believe in regulations that are geared towards preventing infections.
“Many of the regulations that currently exist under the national State of Disaster are geared towards trying to prevent infections from transpiring – or limiting the amount of infection that transpires – rather than focusing on the prevention of severe disease and death.
“If anything, what the past two years have indicated is that these regulations have done very little when it comes to protecting people from being infected, because had it had any impact, we wouldn’t have had 70% of the population infected with the virus at least once since the start of the pandemic,” he said.
Many of these regulations had “failed dismally” in preventing infections.
“We’ve demonstrated quite convincingly that these regulations have not prevented infections and the spread of the virus. In addition, we now have 80% to 85% of the population that have developed protection against severe disease and death.
“Unfortunately, most of that has evolved because of natural infection-induced immunity, compounded by the use of vaccines… This has brought us into a space where we can convincingly say we’ve done as much as can be expected to protect against severe disease and death – other than increasing vaccine coverage for people over 50.”
Infectious disease expert and former chairperson of the government’s Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19 Professor Salim Abdool Karim said that due to the low transmission of the disease, the State of Disaster should definitely have been lifted, but with some restrictions remaining in place.
He said the low transmission rate suggested this was the best time to ease restrictions, reports The Mercury. “But some need to remain in place, like those on mass gatherings, especially indoors.
“There should also still be a restriction for the indoor wearing of masks. Only vaccinated people should be allowed to remove masks at large indoor gatherings.
“It should not be compulsory to continue wearing masks outdoors, and we need to maintain vigilance where we monitor the rate of transmissibility of cases.”
Professor Thumbi Ndung’u from the University of KwaZulu-Natal also called the government’s decision unexpected. “We are in a situation where the number of COVID-19 cases is low, and a lot of people have been vaccinated. Obviously, we can’t take away all restrictions but … the State of Disaster needs to come to an end.”
DA cooperative governance and traditional affairs spokesperson Cilliers Brink called the decision a “power grab”, which was made without explanation to the public.
“This, despite the pandemic in its current form no longer conforming to any reasonable definition of ‘disaster’, and scientists in South Africa and abroad have called for lockdown restrictions to be lifted,” he said.
He said the decision was made without proper consultation with experts or the President’s Co-ordinating Council and that no explanation and accountability to the public and Parliament was given.
“It is time Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was fired. Her brand of irrational dictatorship is eroding the economy and causing job losses on a massive scale.”
The NFP secretary-general, Canaan Mdletshe, said the extension was an indication of a country with a disastrous leadership, reports The Mercury.
“The minister of Cogta and the president had an opportunity to do things differently…yet they chose to extend it because they enjoy seeing poverty continuing. Clearly, we have a disastrous leadership, incompetent government, taking mind-boggling decisions.”
Western Cape premier Alan Winde also condemned the extension, and called on Ramaphosa to provide an explanation. He said it was concerning that this took place without a Presidentʼs Coordinating Council (PCC) meeting, which meant provinces were unable to engage with the government on the matter.
“This is also despite Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma herself indicating that the PCC would be the appropriate platform for engagement on this issue.
“On 11 March, my office received a letter from Minister Dlamini-Zuma effectively saying the disaster will end once adequate measures are introduced.
“Despite having months to prepare these alternative public health measures that would normalise our response while enabling us to focus on creating jobs, it seems the government has not yet finished the job. This is unacceptable, and President Cyril Ramaphosa owes South Africa an explanation,” he said.
Professor Bonke Dumisa, an independent economic analyst, said he had long been advocating for the State of Disaster to be lifted. “It is clear that the delay in lifting the restrictions came as a result of the Department of Health not completing their work. The restrictions are not serving a purpose anymore, and now we are stuck with the State of Disaster for another month.”
Professor Dilip Garach, a tax economist, told The Mercury the extension would not have any real economic impact as most restrictions that affected the economy had been lifted already.
AfriForum has also slammed the extension, saying it had started legal action in February to nullify the State of Disaster.
The Mercury Pressreader article – Experts left in a state of surprise (Open access)
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Most State of Disaster restrictions 'unfit for purpose', say SA's top health experts
DoH warns of chaos if calls to end State of Disaster are heeded
Madhi lashes DoH and calls for end to State of Disaster
SA's COVID-19 state of disaster extended another month to mixed reactions
Fresh calls to lift State of Disaster and legal challenge from Sakeliga