Citizen network joins fight to end national state of disaster

Citizen network DearSA has joined AfriForum in filing an affidavit to try bring an end to the national state of disaster.

In a statement on Wednesday, DearSA stated that ending the state of disaster — which will have been in place for two years in late March — would immediately benefit the country and could only help move SA forward.

DearSA MD Rob Hutchinson said: “At a time when the state of disaster has caused millions of job losses and damage to the economy, ending the national state of disaster will immediately benefit the country.

“We will see a significant increase in tourism and hospitality, and travel will normalise. There will be an end to erratic policy decisions which have hurt investment, and social stabilisation leading to job creation and stability in the job market.”

The statement read that countries such as Switzerland, Spain and the UK are suggesting that the coronavirus pandemic may be shifting to an endemic phase.

“This means that the required number of people will gain immune protection from vaccination and from natural infection, leading to fewer transmissions and Covid-19 related hospitalisations and deaths, even as the virus continues to circulate.

“The UK has also started making notions away from 'face coverings' in the recent weeks.

“This is an indication that since the pandemonium broke out globally more than 21 months ago, government and communities have started reverting to standard living conditions in some instances.”

The state of disaster was put in place on March 26 2020 and has been extended until February 15 by co-operative governance and traditional affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

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