Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma: ‘Regulations here to protect lives’

The law allows the government to invoke the Disaster Management Act on a monthly basis based on a surge or drop in Covid-19 figures, with the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) unable to say when the regulations will be suspended.

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma yesterday responded to a question during an NCCC media briefing about when the government planned on suspending the regulations governing the crisis.

“The regulations are there because of what is happening in the country with regards to the rate of infections – a matter to be reviewed whenever numbers drop sufficiently,”said Dlamini-Zuma.

“Regulations are there to protect lives and are not applied arbitrarily. It is difficult to remove the regulations if numbers of people infected by Covid-19 do not drop.

“It is difficult to give certainty, because we are dealing with something we do not control.”

The government has been under pressure to review the regulations, with experts warning of authoritarianism in the absence of parliamentary oversight.

Dlamini-Zuma said the extension of the state of disaster was “done according to the law”.

• On the – as some claim “ridiculous” – required 100m distance between people and the sea, banning public access to beaches except in the Northern Cape, she said: “Access to the beach means access to water, which is not allowed.”
• Dlamini-Zuma refused to answer questions related to the price of vaccines, 1.5 million of which are expected to be delivered this month from India – referring inquiries to her health counterpart Dr Zweli Mkhize, who was not at the briefing.
• On the closure of 20 land borders with neighbouring countries, Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi reiterated that transportation of cargo, medical goods and certain categories of people, including students, diplomats and South African citizens, would be among those exempted from the border restrictions.

In a bid to addresses glitches, which included overcrowding at the country’s land border posts, Motsoaledi said government would soon launch the Border Management Authority – staffed by full-time employees, who would include security officers.

He said the department had scaled down on some services in its civic offices, included the issuing of marriage certificates and identity cards.

Home Affairs offices will be open until 7pm from Monday to Friday.

Services like smart IDs and passports will not be offered, only birth and death certificates.

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