According to Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the State of Disaster could be lifted next week but it is unclear if the new draft regulations will replace previous proposals or complement them.
Dlamini-Zuma announced on Tuesday that the government wants to lift the State of Disaster by 5 April once the new regulations are gazetted.
Last week, Ramaphosa had said that he intended to end the State of Disaster around 16 April after the one month period for public comments on the proposed amendments to the National Health Act closed.
On Tuesday, Dlamini-Zuma said new draft regulations would be released to manage the response to Covid-19 once the State of Disaster is lifted.
The minister said the public could submit comments on the new regulations for 48 hours, after which the comments would be analyzed and, the government hopes, the State of Disaster could be lifted.
The minister said the new regulations, which would be gazetted and released on Tuesday, made provision for the wearing of masks in indoor public spaces, limitations on gatherings, physical distancing requirements and rules for travellers coming to South Africa.
UDM leader Bantu Holomisa tweeted: “This is rubbish, it’s creating a permanent State of Disaster scenario. All they’ve done is transfer provisions in the disaster of management act into the Health Act!”
The new Covid-19 regulations published under the National Health Act have been criticised as an attempt by the government to maintain the wide powers it received under the State of Disaster. They allow authorities to impose curfews, mask mandates and limit the distribution and consumption of alcohol. They also introduce new self-isolation and quarantine regulations, which have been criticised as incoherent and illogical.
Sources: MSN, My Broadband
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