A recent online study by the Human Sciences and Council and the University of Johannesburg found some interesting results with regards to whether South Africans were willing to sacrifice their rights in support of government efforts to fight the pandemic. Narnia Bohler-Muller, Benjamin Roberts, Steven Gordon and Yul Derek Davids break down the survey.
South Africa’s constitutional democracy guarantees citizens certain basic human rights. But the regulations that attended South Africa’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic severely limited some of those rights. These include the right to freedom of movement and assembly, and the right to work or trade. President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a State of Disaster in March 2020, and placed the country under lockdown, in a bid to combat the pandemic. The lockdown regulations (or “levels”) changed from time to time, becoming more or less restrictive. These included the controversial “ban” on alcohol and cigarettes during the level 5 lockdown, restrictions on leisure and social activities, the closure of schools and universities, restricted attendance of funerals and other gatherings and a curfew.
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Soldiers of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) escorts a homeless woman to a gathering point in the Johannesburg CBD. (Michele Spartari, AFP)
Public health emergencies place immense power in the hands of executive leadership. This can pose a risk of creeping authoritarianism.
Professor Narnia Bohler-Muller and
Dr Benjamin Roberts explore the lessons that can be drawn from the findings of the University of Johannesburg and the Human Sciences Research Council’s online survey on the public’s views on lockdown regulations.
In March 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic led President Cyril Ramaphosa to announce a state of national disaster in terms of the Disaster Management Act. Strict lockdown regulations instituted under this legislation had a clear bearing on human rights.