Government ‘buckled under pressure to move to Level 3’

Sustained pressure may have forced government to ease the lockdown to alert Level 3 after some Cabinet ministers’ arbitrary implementation of questionable regulations weakened President Cyril Ramaphosa’s initial commendable handling of the Covid-19 crisis.

Commenting on Ramaphosa’s move leading to next week’s reopening of some sectors of the economy, which included the R30 billion liquor retail industry, independent political analyst Dr Ralph Mathekga and University of SA political science professor Dirk Kotze agreed government buckled to pressure from business, legal and other key parties in its decision.

Mathekga said pressure groups threatening legal action – questioning the rationale behind the implementation of some regulations by ministers – “revealed serious flaws in the lockdown and showed glaring weaknesses in the government machinery during the coronavirus global crisis”.

“Government’s arbitrary decisions, which were challenged, revealed how government lost public support for the lockdown.

“Pressure groups, business and political parties like the Democratic Alliance [DA] were breathing down government’s neck.

“Facing legal action, government was pushed to react quickly under a severe amount of pressure, with court challenges pending – leading to an official lockdown easing,” said Mathekga.

“While the curfew decision was taken not so long ago, the question we should be asking ourselves is what it has achieved.

“Government’s reaction to pending court challenges over the implementation of far-reaching decisions will not stop courts of law pronouncing on actions taken. If a government is brought to court, a minister might have to explain.

“How do you explain government’s rationality in banning cigarette smoking, when people can still smoke in their homes?”

Mathekga said government’s decisions on the implementation of the lockdown regulations squandered the initial praise earned by Ramaphosa.

“The president misused his political capital by allowing the likes of [Cooperative Governance Minister] Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, [Police Minister] Bheki Cele and [Trade and Industry Minister] Ibrahim Patel to do things that weakened his position in handling the coronavirus, with the Presidency remaining quiet,” said Mathekga.

“When the president first came out publicly on how the country would react to the virus through a set of hard measures, he was quite strong in winning public support, gaining much political mileage.

“But he allowed some of his ministers to run amok in managing regulations, making him appear weak and compromised. The last straw was the Dlamini-Zuma about-turn on tobacco.”

The DA raised “critical questions which were considered by government in taking decisions”.

Kotze said the easing of the lockdown portrayed SA as a country following the example set by Europe and the US in “putting business before public health”.

“Government has bowed down to business pressure and left the public to protect itself,” said Kotze.

– brians@citizen.co.za

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