AfriForum today submitted commentary on the Disaster Management Amendment Bill. AfriForum wholeheartedly welcomes the introduction of the Amendment Bill and urges that it be passed as a matter of national interest.
The word lockdown does not appear in the Disaster Management Act 57 of 2002 (the DMA), nor in any other national statute or legislation. Yet this novel term – which encompasses an array of ever-changing measures and systems – has become interwoven with the Executive’s response to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
The Amendment Bill will remedy this unconstitutional situation. At heart it seeks to restore some measure of oversight to national governance and to address the executive overreach that has been normalised over the past 18 months since the first declaration of a national disaster. For almost two years it has been the sole prerogative of an unelected yet select few as to whether basic rights and freedoms may be exercised. The resultant quagmire of regulation and micro-management had a dire impact on South Africa.
“The Amendment Bill will bring the Disaster Management Act in line with the constitutional procedure regarding states of emergency, which is compliant with the doctrine of separation of powers and establishes proper oversight,” says Marnus Kamfer, Legal and Risk Manager at AfriForum.