SCA overturns High Court judgement that ruled against lockdown rules

While all eyes were on the Constitutional Court as it delivered judgement on the saga between President Cyril Ramaphosa and Public Protector advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane, another important ruling was reached by the Supreme Court of Appeal: The SCA has overturned a ruling by the North Gauteng High Court, which declared most of the Level 3 and Level 4 lockdown restrictions as unconstitutional and invalid.

The Liberty Fighters Network (LFN) had approached the courts in May 2020, in a bid to have the lockdown rules that were cited in the Disaster Management Act, set aside. The SCA delivered its judgement on Thursday, 1 July 2021 and described the case brought forward by LFM as being “wholly inadequate”.

SCA lays into High Court judgement against lockdown

The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) further took exception to the North Gauteng High Court’s handling of the matter, accusing it of not allowing the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to sufficiently respond. Lockdown

“The minister was compelled to deal, as best she could, with a case that was framed in almost unintelligible terms. Her explanations as to why she was moved to declare a national state of disaster and that she took scientific advice before formulating the regulations were not meaningfully contradicted,” the SCA said.

“To sum up on this aspect of the case: The case put forward by the respondents was wholly inadequate. There was no cognisable case to answer. The respondents ignored the fundamental principle that an applicant’s case must be set out with sufficient specificity, clarity and supporting admissible evidence so that the functionary or repository of power knows the case that has to be met”

Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA

“The constitutional challenge made to the regulations was too diffuse and inadequately specified to make out a case for an infringement of the Bill of Rights,” the SCA said.

When High Court Judge Norman Davis delivered his judgment, he slammed some of the lockdown restrictions, one example being the ones on funerals.

“When a person, young or old, is in the grip of a terminal disease other than Covid-19 and is slowly leaving this life, to ease that suffering and the passing, it is part of the nature of humanity for family and loved ones to support the sufferer,” he said.