The year 2020/2021 started with a storm that caught many in South Africa and indeed other countries of the world, with utter surprise. For us, the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) arrived in South Africa, a few days before the start of the financial year, with devastating and frightening effects and caused panic all round.

With the realization of the havoc that the pandemic was causing to human lives, infecting and killing thousands each day, the South African government, out of the realization that if the Coronavirus was left unchecked it would overwhelm hospitals and other health care facilities and result in untold devastation to human lives, the government declared a national state of disaster and announced a total shutdown that imposed far reaching restrictions. Such restrictions, fundamentally limited many of the peoples’ constitutionally entrenched rights, including the right to freedom of movement, freedom of association and many others.

Report by the South African Human Rights Commission