Deadline for government to oppose Maimane’s bid to shut down schools

As COVID-19 deaths spiked, many are calling for the government to reconsider the decision of reopening schools
Today is the deadline for the South African government to oppose Mmusi Maimane in his last-ditch attempt to have schools shut after he headed to the Constitutional Court.

The former leader of the DA, now the head of One South Africa Movement, was calling for schools to be closed until proper implementation plans were made to deal with the ravaging COVID-19 in schools.

On Tuesday 21 July, he told his 1.4 million followers on Twitter that today was the last day for the government to oppose his application.

GOVERNMENT TO OPPOSE MAIMANE
“All we are seeking is that there must be proper implementation plans in place, which are independently audited. This is about the safety of all learners, teachers and support staff,”

he said.

Should the government not oppose his application, then Maimane’s path to the apex court would be cleared, and all the parties would slug it out at the apex court.

Earlier this month, Maimane’s bid to have phasing reopening of schools halted was dismissed by the North Gauteng High Court.

The court declared Maimane’s attempt “unlawful, irrational, unconstitutional and invalid.”

Unrelenting, last week he filed an urgent application for leave to appeal at the ConCourt.

UNIONS AGAINST THE REOPENING OF SCHOOLS
South African Democratic Teachers Unions (Sadtu), the biggest teachers union had recently said it had lost confidence in Motshekga.

Other teacher unions, Naptosa and Natu were also opposing the opening of schools, both saying it placed its members, teachers, in a dangerous position.

COVID-19 NUMBERS CONTINUE TO RISE
As it stood, the unions argued that the government was failing to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the reopening of schools was like “throwing us to wolves”.

As at Monday 20 July, COVID-19 deaths were 5173, infections stood at 373 628 while recoveries were 194 865.

At the time of writing, the government had not yet indicated whether it will oppose Maimane’s application to the ConCourt.