If it is extended any further without significant relaxation of restrictions, then we need to start organizing a crowdfunding campaign to challenge the more egregious abuses of power in court.
We now have police swooping on people with cigarettes as if they’re running a crack den and the state policing what types of food and levels of its preparedness are acceptable. People are resorting to dangerous home brewing and more liquor stores are being looted by the day. And all of this is feeding burgeoning black markets. Meanwhile, people in their yards or just walking to their local spaza shop are assaulted by armed forces and at best made to perform physical punishment, at worst, beaten to death.
The elderly and those without cooking facilities or means are now being told they can only buy ingredients and CIPC is running around taking legal action against the provision of what it deems to be ”prepared food”, with idiotic distinctions about whether a cold pie is prepared vs a frozen lasagne. We are going into winter and people can’t buy warm clothes, new born babies can’t be clothed, we are homeschooling but can’t buy stationery, it’s impossible to perform basic maintenance tasks because hardware goods are banned, etc etc.
And nobody is pushing back. The duty of the state is to enact whatever reasonable measures are required to limit the spread of the virus, but this should be done at all times in a way that least impinges on its citizens’ rights, and not add burdens that are unnecessary or unrelated to the virus. It is equally the duty of civil society to push back against that, and nobody seems to be doing that in any significant way, giving the state free rein. It should not be a one way street.
Despite vague references to consider eased restrictions and vague threats by business to take legal action, nothing seems to be forthcoming so far. In fact, if anything, and if past history is anything to go by, the ANC only knows how to double down on bad regulation, and never, ever soften it.
History has shown that we cannot rely on business or industry to act in our best interests either as they have been notoriously quiet in the past when government enacts measures that abrogate rights, or even harm their own industries, and this seems to be no exception. So it is probably going to be up to ordinary people to band together and do something about it.
/rant
tl;dr
We private citizens need to start considering funding court action against the more absurd and damaging regulations that are not materially related to fighting the virus, or are counterproductive.
