AfriForum and Solidarity will today respectively serve court documents in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria in which the organisations request the courts to declare the continuation of the current state of disaster invalid.

In its arguments, AfriForum states that there is currently no disaster and hence no need for a state of disaster. The organisation says when looking at the current hospitalisation and death rates for COVID-19, there is no justification for the continued clamp down on citizens’ freedoms.

AfriForum has launched numerous legal battles against unreasonable government regulations since the first lockdown was announced nearly two years ago, including abolishing government quarantine camps and other measures such as the curfew, beach bans, and the ban on religious gatherings. AfriForum and Solidarity also succeeded in having the COVID-19 Tourism Relief Fund be declared unlawful, this fund would have dispensed financial compensation to businesses and persons in the tourism sector based on the colour of their skin.

“It’s obvious that there is no need for a state of disaster. The fact that the state of disaster keeps getting extended, just shows that the ANC government is not planning on letting go of the unfettered power it grabbed over the last two years with these draconian regulations. That’s why we’re heading to court over the matter,” says Ernst van Zyl, Campaign Officer for Strategy and Content at AfriForum.