• March 29, 2024

South Africa Ordered to Overhaul Lockdown

 South Africa Ordered to Overhaul Lockdown
Image by jessica45 from Pixabay

A South African court has found some coronavirus lockdown regulations imposed by the government “unconstitutional and invalid,” reports the BBC.

The high court in the capital, Pretoria, ruled that the measures were not connected to slowing the rate of infection or limiting its spread. The judge described rules around funerals, informal workers and amount of exercise as “irrational.”

Judge Norman Davis argued it was wrong to allow people to travel to attend funerals but not to earn their livelihoods by street trading, as many South Africans do.

South Africa initially had some of the world’s most restrictive lockdown measures, including a ban on tobacco sales.

Some restrictions were recently lifted but the ban on tobacco sales remains in place despite earlier indications that it, too, might be eased.

British American Tobacco and The Federation of International Trade Associations have mounted a legal challenge to the restrictions.

It was unclear if Judge Davis’ ruling also covered tobacco. The government was given 14 days to overhaul the regulations.