Western Cape Premier Alan Winde did not welcome Tuesday’s extension of South Africa’s National State of Disaster on Covid-19 to April 15, saying the move was “unacceptable” to the nation.
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma announced the extension from March 15 to April 15, thereby clocking two years and one month since it was first declared in March 2020.
Condemning the extension, Winde said the government had months to prepare alternative public health measures that would normalise its response, while enabling the country to focus on creating jobs.
“This is unacceptable. And President Cyril Ramaphosa owes South Africa an explanation,” said the premier, who is a member of the opposition Democratic Alliance.
Winde said expressed concern that the extension took place without a meeting of the President’s Coordinating Council, which meant that provinces were unable to engage with the national government on the matter.
“The bottom line is that we cannot be in a state of disaster indefinitely,” Winde said.
He noted that scientific evidence showed that the country no longer needed a disaster act declaration to manage the pandemic.
“We, instead, need to normalise our response through existing health legislation,” Winde said.
NM/jn/APA