AfriForum and DearSA questions transparency of health regulations commentary process

25 April 2022 

The civil rights organisation AfriForum and the public participation platform DearSA is concerned about governments’ handling of the public participation process regarding commentary on the newly proposed amendments to the Health Act.

This follows reports that the Department of Health has received 15 000 public comments.

AfriForum and DearSA are disputing this since the two organisations have received more than 310 000 comments through their official participation platforms and all of these comments were sent directly to the Department of Health.

“These proposed regulations are extremely invasive and will allow the Department of Health to force people into quarantine camps against their will and also force them to receive certain medical treatments, among other things. The fact that the department now seems to be bungling the public participation process, is of grave concern,” says Jacques Broodryk, AfriForum’s Campaigns Manager.

“We are still processing the final results of approximately 283 000 comments, but preliminary indications show that over 95% of comments outright reject the proposed Health Act regulations. Of the remainder 3% do not fully support it, while around 2% support it. It is clear that these proposed amendments do not enjoy public support, but rather public opposition. Equally we are concerned about the manner in which government has approached and managed the public participation process,” says Gideon Joubert, CEO of DearSA.

Afriforum and DearSA are willing to fight these regulations in court should it be necessary.

Issued by Chanté Kelder, Media Relations Officer, AfriForum, 25 April 2022