Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen is threatening to take government to court for what he calls an “irrational and unreasonable” extension of the National State of Disaster and is urging the public to back the DA in its court action.

On Tuesday, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma gazetted a further extension of the Covid-19 National State of Disaster, until April 15.

South Africa has been under the National State of Disaster for over two years, since the outbreak of the pandemic.

The DA is claiming that by extending the State of Disaster government is hoping to put in place permanent legislation to keep the lockdown in place.

“I have today instructed our attorneys to bring an urgent court challenge to Tuesday’s irrational and unreasonable extension of the State of Disaster. But it’s not enough just to end the State of Disaster. The lockdown itself must end. It can’t just become permanent legislation, as the government is trying to do,” Steenhuisen said.

The DA leader said government had claimed it was being led by science on the lockdown, which Steenhuisen said had now been indicated to be unnecessary, irrational and unreasonable.

He pointed to hundreds of thousands of job losses under the lockdown, thousands of livelihoods destroyed, millions of school and university days missed, and billions of Rands lost to tax revenue, which he said could have been used for poverty relief.

He said the country was under a self-imposed State of Disaster, caused by the Covid-19 restrictions, that was doing more harm than good, and believed that ending the lockdown would have a major positive impact on South Africa’s economy.

He went on to urge government to allow the sports sector to open up by allowing spectators in stadiums and to drop indoor and outdoor limits on public gatherings.

Steenhuisen questioned why in South Africa it was still the law to wear masks in public, including in schools, where he said they were a barrier to learning and a source of discomfort.

He suggested that, like other countries, masks should only be mandated in high-risk contexts, such as oncology wards.

“The ANC government is no longer fighting the spread of Covid. It is fighting to hold on to the powers it has become accustomed to these past two years. Such an unconstitutional power grab cannot be tolerated in an open, democratic society like ours,” he concluded.