12 October 2020. Dear Honourable President Ramaphosa, South Africa, along with India, has adopted a ground-breaking position at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) with the tabling of the proposal for a “Waiver from certain provisions of the TRIPS Agreement for the prevention, containment and treatment of COVID-19”. The proposal will be on the agenda of
The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc with the daily lives of autistic people. Regulations to flatten the curve in South Africa have caused drastic changes in the routines of autistic people because of the closure of early education centres (ECDs), schools and adult learning centres as well as the workplaces of their parents and caregivers.
On May 14, President Cyril Ramaphosa joined 139 other heads of state, former heads of state, and other prominent public figures in a letter announcing support for The People’s Vaccine (https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/featurestories/2020/may/20200514_covid19-vaccine-open-letter). The letter stated that: ‘Governments and international partners must unite around a global guarantee which ensures that, when a safe and effective vaccine is
The following letter, which was drafted by UKZN academics and signed by some 82 academics and researchers nationally, was sent to the President in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. AN APPEAL TO PRESIDENT CYRIL RAMAPHOSA BY ACADEMICS, RESEARCHERS AND TEACHERS TO EXPEDITE THE AMENDMENTS TO THE PATENTS ACT 57 OF 1978, IN LINE WITH
On 3 April 2020, it was reported in Nature that African nations were largely not involved in clinical trials for the development of a COVID-19 vaccine. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has called for increased participation by African states in its SOLIDARITY trial, a global study of four potential COVID-19 treatments. Researchers are pushing for
Cruel and crude was how the court described the effect of the lockdown on Karel Van Heerden and his family. On Friday, 27 March 2020 at 16:02, Karel Van Heerden approached the High Court on an urgent basis for a temporary exemption from certain of the lockdown regulations. The court said that the circumstances of
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a catastrophic effect on so many aspects of our lives – including access to justice. The contradictory directives that have been issued, and amended and replaced on a regular basis show that the courts and the justice ministry were completely blindsided by the national emergency. In the USA, there was
The COVID-19 Regulations provide that every person (with a few limited exceptions) must be confined to their place of residence for the duration of the lockdown. Healthcare workers, such as doctors, nurses, and paramedics, are categorised as essential workers and are exempted from this restriction. There are penalties for non-compliance. For instance, any person who
Is the South African Government justified in monitoring your whereabouts during the COVID-19 pandemic? The short answer is yes – if you are known to have COVID-19 or are reasonably suspected to have contracted it. In a State of Disaster, in these unprecedented times, individual monitoring measures are both lawful and reasonable for the reasons