Democratic Government and Covid-19

The South African Government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic was carried out in terms of the Disaster Management Act (DMA). Once a ‘disaster’ is declared in terms of the DMA, the executive branch of government takes over all aspects of its management. In effect, therefore, the DMA seals off managing the Covid-19 pandemic from ordinary deliberative democratic law-making processes.

This shift away from Parliamentary involvement in managing the Covid-19 pandemic precipitated the HSF’s approach to the Gauteng High Court to compel the government to chart a different course.