Question NW1215 to the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
19 June 2020 - NW1215
Opperman, Ms G to ask the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
(1)Whether she has found that there is any regulation that has been imposed by the National Coronavirus Command Council since 26 March 2020 as a measure to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic that suspended or limited fundamental human rights; if not, how was this conclusion reached; if so, what are the relevant details; (2) what steps were taken to ensure that regulations and/or measures to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic that are premised on international best practice were adjusted to meet the existing challenges in the Republic, in particular the risks of famine amongst persons who have lost their income and access food; (3) what (a) are the full relevant details of how the existing real-time information measures up with the initial projections or models upon which a national disaster was declared and a national lockdown to curb the spread of the virus was imposed and (b) adjustments have been made to the initial strategies to align them with reality; (4) what are the reasons that the curbing measures are applied wholesale and throughout the Republic whilst certain provinces such as the Northern Cape have clearly shown very small increases and a high recovery rate in infections? NW1520E
Reply:
1. It is important to indicate that there is no regulation that has been imposed by National Coronavirus Command Council as a measure to curb the spread of the Covid-19.
2. The National Executive of SA Government considers reports from the Minister of Health and NATJOINTS. These measures incorporate best practices obtained from international stakeholders such as World Health Organization. Government introduced a broad package to provide for those persons who have lost their income, this includes the provision of food.
3. a. The issues related to projections and models are located within the Department of Health. Accordingly this aspect of the question should be referred to the Department of Health.
b. The government adopted the Risk Adjusted Strategy to align with the prevailing reality in dealing with COVID-19 nationally.
c. The measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 are applied in all nine provinces throughout the country. In addition these measures aim to prevent inter-provincial spread by restricting travel between provinces and for those provinces that are currently having lower levels of infection to prepare their health care facilities.
Thank you