Cope urges President to consult opposition parties on key issues affecting the nation
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Congress of the People (Cope) has urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to respect opposition parties and consult them on key issues that affect the nation.
It was reacting to what it calls the government’s unilateral decision to extend the National State of Disaster to the 15th of next month.
Cope says opposition parties were not consulted when government decided to extend measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The party’s spokesperson Dennis Bloem says, “… Extending the National State of Disaster without consulting the opposition parties is totally unacceptable. President Ramaphosa expects that we must support this decision but we don’t know what was the reason for this extension. For full two years, people have been under this State of Disaster and it is a totally burden over the heads of the people of South Africa.”
President Cyril Ramaphosa said in his State of the Nation last month that he intended to end the National State of Disaster after finalising all measures under the National Health Act to manage the pandemic.
Video: Two years of the national state of disaster in SA: Dr Lesley Bamford
Disappointment
Earlier Tuesday Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma confirmed the extension of the State of Disaster to the 15th of next month. This is despite the President’s earlier indications that he wanted to end the lockdown regulations.
Several political parties have expressed their disappointment at the government’s decision to extend the National State of Disaster.
DA Shadow Minister for Co-operative Governance Cilliers Brink says there is no scientific basis for the extension.
“There is no scientific basis for the decision by minister Dlamini Zuma to once again extend the National State of Disaster for the 24th time she has done so according to our count since 2020 without offering any explanation to the South African people or to Parliament. We believe that in fact there is no disaster in South Africa what we have is an economic disaster caused by the government’s refusal to let go of its lockdown powers which we know is essential to unlock investor confidence,” says Brink.