Durban - The African National Congress has issued their support for decisions undertaken by the National Corona Virus Command Council, dispelling suggestions that some ministers had taken the onus upon themselves to change level 4 lockdown regulations.
On Sunday, ANC national spokesperson Pule Mabe said the work of government was guided by the collective of Cabinet and the NCVCC, which is led by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Mabe called the attack on Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, "racial and misogynistic", adding that Dlamini-Zuma made the pronouncements in her official capacity.
"To this end, government and through the NCVCC has taken urgent and drastic measures to manage the disease, protect the people of our country and reduce the impact of the virus on our communities. Each and every step considered is broadly consulted with the stakeholders including the broader South African public before execution," Mabe said.
He said some of the measures undertaken by government to date include a decision by Cabinet to declare a National State of Disaster in accordance with laws of the Republic which all of us across political divides firmly endorsed.
"Given the scale and the speed at which the virus is spreading, the numbers of those infected continue to increase at an alarming rate. Unfortunately in an effort to save lives, some of these measures included limiting of people rights and freedoms, closing down some sectors of the economy and a ban of social gatherings, sale of alcohol and tobacco related products," he said.
Mabe added that the decision by the NCVCC to continue with ban on the sale of tobacco during the level 4 eased lockdown was pronounced to have been carefully considered following a broad and open consultation process.
He said the Disaster Management Act of 2002 confers on the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs the responsibility to co-ordinate the country's national disaster mitigation efforts.
The ANC called on the NCVCC and Cabinet to continue to strengthen the regulations in order to save lives and decrease the risk of people being infected by the virus.
"We join all patriotic and peace-loving South Africans in commending our government for the humane actions and measures undertaken to date. All these efforts are substantially and rapidly increasing our public health response which have already resulted in a huge increase in community screening and testing," Mabe said.