Government to appeal court declaration of lockdown regulations as invalid

Cabinet has announced that it will seek leave to appeal the judgment of the High Court in Pretoria on lockdown regulations.

Minister in the Presidency, Jackson Mthembu told the media in Pretoria Thursday afternoon that the cabinet believes it has followed all the right steps in its approach to COVID-19.

Earlier this week, the High Court in Pretoria ruled that Alert Levels 3 and 4 lockdown regulations were unconstitutional and invalid.

Cabinet has held a special cabinet meeting following a shocking declaration by the High Court in Pretoria that government did not entirely follow the Constitution in implementing Alert Levels 3 and 4 of the lockdown regulations.

Mthembu says the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister, Doctor Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma will lead government in approaching the court to seek leave to appeal the judgment.

Mthembu says government will make the application on an urgent basis.

“In our view, those regulations were properly enacted and they served a particular purpose and so, we don’t believe that anybody or any other court will come to the same conclusion as the North Gauteng High Court came to.”

In the video below, Minister Mthembu briefs the media after the Cabinet briefing: 

Meanwhile, the special Cabinet meeting has agreed that the National State of Disaster will be extended by another month until 5 July.

Mthembu says the extension is the right thing to do at the moment given the current situation posed by the coronavirus. He says President Cyril Ramaphosa will visit the Western Cape this Friday to get to the bottom of what leads to the province to continue to be in the lead when it comes to the coronavirus infections.

? COVID-19 Dashboard update for the Western Cape:

? Total confirmed cases – 26 386
? Total recoveries – 14 917
? Total tests done – 179 247

View the dashboard ➡️ https://t.co/AgbOmel0FP. For a comprehensive daily update, see Premier Alan Winde’s statement later today. pic.twitter.com/4UoTun2bLf

— Western Cape Gov (@WesternCapeGov) June 4, 2020

Reaction to Cabinet’s decision to appeal High Court regulations ruling with Director of Werksmans Attorneys, Bulelwa Mabasa: 

 Legal Expert Ulrich Roux: 

Below is the Cabinet’s statement: