‘Constitutionally permissible’ for Parliament to confer power to minister, High Court hears
Parliament has defended its decision to confer power to Minister of Cooperative Governance Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Advocate Vincent Maleka, arguing on behalf of the legislature, told the High Court in Pretoria on Thursday that Parliament acted within the Constitution when giving Dlamini-Zuma the power to make regulations.
“It follows therefore, that when Parliament promulgated this legislation, acted constitutionally permissibly by conferring upon the minister the power to make regulations.
“There is another reason why Parliament has acted in a constitutionally permissible way in conferring upon it the power to make regulations.
“Because a disaster, such as a disaster flowing from Covid-19, is not a matter that is static. It evolves from time to time. It requires immediate and changing interventions at different times.”
The Helen Suzman Foundation wants the court force the government to pass a “special” legislation to manage Covid-19 and reclaim the powers of Parliament and the executive.
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The foundation also believes that the Disaster Management Act vested too much power in Dlamini-Zuma for too long.
South Africa has been in a State of Disaster since the end of March due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The foundation’s legal counsel Max du Plessis told the court that they believe the lockdown extensions has been valid “up to this point”.
“We are saying up until this point those extensions have been valid, we are not retrospectively trying to undo any of those extensions.
“They have extended with respect, we accept they have. But they have done so on the basis of a mistaken interpretation of where their duties lie.
“They think that they can continue to extend and discharge their duty by virtue of the DMA. But we are asking the court to recognise that there is a different duty that they have.”