Liberty Fighters Network and NDZ’s lockdown court battle continues

The Liberty Fighters Network (LFN) has dragged Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma back to court, in a renewed bid to have the national state of disaster overturned in its entirety.

The pressure group made headlines back in June, after taking the minister to court over the lockdown regulations of the day and winning.

Judge Norman Davis, sitting in the North Gauteng High Court, found only a handful of the level three and four regulations met constitutional muster and gave the minister two weeks to bring the rest up to par. But he stopped short of declaring the national state of disaster – under which the regulations were promulgated – was itself unconstitutional, unlawful and invalid.

Now the LFN has launched an application for leave to appeal Davis’ finding that the decision to invoke a national state of disaster was a rational one.

The group also wants a special order giving immediate effect to Davis’ declaration that the regulations were invalid, which was suspended when the minister launched her own appeal bid. She has since been granted leave to approach the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein.

The LFN’s president, Reyno De Beer, argued his case himself before Davis on Wednesday.

He was adamant another court was likely to find declaring a national state of disaster had not been the only available option and was, in fact, unnecessary.

But advocate Wim Trengrove SC, for the minister, labelled the prospects of success “hopeless” – adding the question at hand was one of rationality.

“The decision was one taken at a time when every other country in the world was doing the same thing,” Trengrove said.

When it came to his declaration that the regulations were invalid, Davis himself today questioned the point of ordering it be given immediate effect at this stage.

“The difficulty with this matter is it’s almost a moving target,” the judge said.

Davis pointed to changes having been made to the regulations since June and to the significantly relaxed restrictions currently in place under lockdown level two.

But De Beer was concerned the country could still return to a higher level lockdown in future.

“If it means that there are then no regulations in place, wouldn’t that be to the detriment of the public?” Davis asked him.

De Beer, however, believed members of the public would still continue “with the normal procedures they are used to and comfortable with”.

Trengrove argued an order giving immediate effect to the declaration that the lockdown level three and four regulations were invalid, would not in any case affect the lockdown level two regulations – save to cause an administrative headache by throwing out certain definitions and general rules.

“They are not in operation at the moment,” he said – adding there was no harm in waiting for the SCA to rule on the minister’s appeal.

Davis asked about the possibility of a return to a higher lockdown level before then.

“We accept entirely they [the level three and four regulations] are still on the statute book and will become applicable again if the minister promulgates a reversal. But only then,” Trengrove replied. “So there is a possibility but not a likelihood that would happen”.

Judgment was reserved.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.