South Africa’s lockdown, which came into effect on 27 March 2020 to tackle the spread of the vicious virus, was eased on 1 May 2020 whilst still adhering to strict distancing rules. Since the lockdown eight civilians have been killed by the army and police force. Three deaths were reported within four days of the lockdown, all of which were caused by the hands of law enforcement officers. 

Due to citizen’s non-compliance with the COVID-19 National State of Disaster regulations, over 2000 people had been arrested within days of the lockdown. 

AUTHORITIES VIOLATE HUMAN RIGHTS THROUGH THE USE OF EXCESSIVE FORCE

On 31 March 2020, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) released a media statement raising their concerns over the actions of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), and the South African Police Service (SAPS) who were deployed by President Cyril Ramaphosa to ensure that civilians stayed indoors and only left their homes to buy food and medicine. 

The Ministry of Defence and Military Veterans condemned any type of form of abuse committed by the members of SANDF. The statement was released following an incident where a 41 year-old man was killed by a police officer and a security guard outside his home; the police officer and security guard have been arrested. 

The authorities have been physically torturing people who have not been adhering to the regulations by using rubber bullets, tear gas, and whips. 

The authorities were deployed to ensure compliance with the regulations and to protect the health and safety of everyone. However, their behaviour and actions are a clear violation of the country’s entrenched human rights under South Africa’s Bill of Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which South Africa is a member state.

The southern Africa director at Human Rights Watch said “The government should remind security forces that a public emergency does not change the prohibition on police abuse, and that monitoring will be in place to detect and punish such abuse, as well as abuses against women and girls.”

The use of force is unreasonable and uncalled for, especially as relatively little force has been used in many other countries where a lockdown has been imposed. The authorities should be encouraging people to work together in order to tackle the virus, whilst respecting their right to life and the right to freedom and security. 

GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE INCREASES AS A RESULT OF THE RIGOROUS LOCKDOWN

There has been an increase in gender-based violence following the lockdown. Within the first week of the lockdown, the police received 2,300 complaints of gender-based violence - this is 37% higher than 2019’s weekly average. 

The COVID-19 regulations limited people’s freedom of movement as they were ordered to stay within their place of residence, which meant that victims of abuse were unable to leave their homes if they felt unsafe as there was a possible risk of experiencing violence and torture by the authorities, which would be a violation of people’s rights under Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In an address to the nation on 13 May 2020, President Ramaphosa noted that it was clear that South Africa’s men had “declared war” on its women and promised the implementation of a pathway for victims of gender-based violence to seek assistance and security during the lockdown period. 

By easing the lockdown, approximately 1.5 million people, from specific industries such as factories, and takeaways, are able to return to work and citizens are allowed to leave their homes for some exercise in the mornings, which allows people who have been subject to abuse to leave their hostile environment for a little while.

However, the concern here is that there is still probably a vast amount of people who are not allowed to return to work yet and therefore having to remain indoors for most of the day, which means they are still being subject to violence within their homes. In his address this week, the President outlined that victims of domestic violence will also be allowed to leave their homes at any time during the lockdown for the purposes of reporting this violence to authorities.

The government needs to ensure that suitable safeguards and security is in place to protect victims who are subject to abuse and violence, as there is a possibility that the number of deaths caused by gender-based violence during the lockdown could surpass the total figure of deaths caused by COVID-19. As of 13 May 2020, South Africa has confirmed 12 074 cases of coronavirus and 219 deaths.

After having completed the Bar Professional Training Course (2018), Safia currently working as a Costs Advisor in a law firm. Her life goal is to make a positive change in the society we live in, no matter how small that change might be.

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