The FF Plus welcomes the new regulations that the Minister of Health, Zweli Mkhize, published in the Government Gazette yesterday which determine that people who enter South Africa may possibly be allowed to self-quarantine for 14 days if certain criteria in terms of the regulations are met.
There are naturally certain conditions that must be met, for instance, the person's employer must send a written application to the director-general of Health at least 72 hours prior to the individual's departure to travel to South Africa in order to obtain the necessary permission.
The following information must be provided: Details and address where the person will self-quarantine, a written declaration in which the person commits to adhere to all the conditions for self-quarantine, a copy of the person's ID-document or passport, contact details where the individual can be reached during his / her period of self-quarantine as well as a detailed itinerary of the previous 30 days. The regulations make it very clear that if a person is not granted permission to self-quarantine, he/she will be placed in a state facility.
Last month, the FF Plus asked that the regulations must be amended to allow South Africans who are repatriated from neighbouring countries and overseas, and who had been placed in terrible quarantine facilities, the opportunity to choose to self-quarantine if they are indeed able to do so and can offer the necessary proof. Many South Africans who had been repatriated since the beginning of the lockdown period were taken to facilities that were not fit for human accommodation and did not comply with the prescribed health and safety standards.
The FF Plus received serious complaints about more than ten of the facilities and had to take the matter up with the Department of Health in each instance to have the problems rectified. The human rights of the people who ended up in those facilities were grossly violated and it frequently made headlines in the media.
The High Court even had to issue a court order to close down the Zithabiseni facility in Mpumalanga because it did not meet the basic health and safety requirements.
At this stage, whether or not the regulations will be effectively implemented and whether the applications to the director-general will be successfully processed remain to be seen. The FF Plus is ready to offer help and guidance those who need it.
The FF Plus considers the new regulations a great victory. It goes to show that the government cannot just trample on people's human rights and that eventually, the government conceded after a party like the FF Plus kept the pressure on.
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