The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has overturned a ruling by the North Gauteng High Court, which declared most of the Level 3 and Level 4 lockdown restrictions as unconstitutional and invalid.
The Liberty Fighters Network (LFN) had approached the courts in May 2020, in a bid to have the lockdown rules that were cited in the Disaster Management Act set aside.
The SCA delivered its ruling on Thursday and described the case bought forward by the LFN as being “wholly inadequate”.
The SCA also took further exception to the North Gauteng High Court’s handling of the matter, accusing it of not allowing Cogta minister Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to sufficiently respond.
“The minister was compelled to deal, as best she could, with a case that was framed in almost unintelligible terms. Her explanations as to why she was moved to declare a national state of disaster and that she took scientific advice before formulating the regulations were not meaningfully contradicted,” the SCA said.
“To sum up on this aspect of the case: The case put forward by the respondents was wholly inadequate. There was no cognisable case to answer. The respondents ignored the fundamental principle that an applicant’s case must be set out with sufficient specificity, clarity and supporting admissible evidence so that the functionary or repository of power knows the case that has to be met”
“The constitutional challenge made to the regulations was too diffuse and inadequately specified to make out a case for an infringement of the Bill of Rights,” the SCA said.
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