SA’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic will remain the main focus in the political week ahead.
Though the government declared a national state of disaster last week to curb the spread of the virus, the infection rate has increased rapidly in the past seven days. The number of infections in the country were less than 100 when President Cyril Ramaphosa declared the state of disaster last week, but the tally has since risen to 240 confirmed infections.
Ramaphosa held a series of meetings on Sunday with business and political party leaders, and chaired the national command council, which co-ordinates SA’s efforts to fight the virus.
Ramaphosa was due to address the nation on Sunday evening after the meeting with the command council, which was due to look at whether the measures that are in place to contain the spread of the virus are sufficient and what further measures are required.
But the meeting continued late into the night. He is now expected to address the nation on Monday, minister in the presidency Jackson Mthembu said.
As a result of the pandemic, all political programmes and sittings of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) have been suspended.
While by-elections scheduled to take place until April by the Electoral Commission of SA have been postponed by the court, the City of Tshwane council’s dissolution took effect on Saturday after the NCOP and the minister of co-operative governance & traditional affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, supported the decision by the Gauteng provincial government to dissolve it.
The decision by the provincial government was taken earlier in March after months of political fighting in the council which led to it becoming dysfunctional.
But, the DA’s application to have the decision to dissolve the council reviewed and set aside, and get a court order that councillors from the ANC and the EFF must attend council meetings, is scheduled to be heard on Tuesday.
With the dissolution of the council on Saturday, DA caucus leader in Tshwane Randall Williams said the party hoped that the decision will be overturned.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein is scheduled to hear former president Jacob Zuma’s challenge against the personal costs order made against him in his failed litigation against former public protector Thuli Madonsela’s report on state capture.
While it would have been a busy week in the courts in terms of politically sensitive cases, the court challenge brought by public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane to challenge the parliamentary process which is set to look at her removal from office, has been postponed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Judgment will also no longer be delivered in the case between Mkhwebane and the SA Revenue Service about Zuma’s tax information.
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