On Monday morning former finance minister Trevor Manuel strongly criticised both the lockdown regulations and the army. He isn’t the first and won’t be the last to do so. Pressure against the regulations is growing as support for them dwindles.
by South Africa’s former finance minister Trevor Manuel, in which he warned that we should not allow our freedoms to be removed during the national lockdown. Rather movingly, he described the plight of a taxi driver who was in the same cell as he was in the 1980s, and how he ended up in jail simply because he had questioned the actions of a police officer. Manuel’s point was that the Constitution is not suspended during this time, and that people should not accept any loss of their rights.
In his interview, Manuel also spoke about the economy. “We must ensure that the economic rules are rational and I think that a lot of the decisions that have been taken don’t pass the test of rationality, what you can buy, what you can’t buy, doesn’t work. And then I think the third part is the general appeal for reasonable conduct that extends to the police and army.
While Manuel is no longer in government, and no longer holds any high office in the ANC, his opinions still carry weight. He has a veteran leadership role, and understands the economy and our society.For the moment, those who would normally speak up for the business constituency have been quiet. Business Unity SA has not said very much. The group was an important part of the process of drawing up government’s economic response to the crisis.
What is important here is that Manuel may well give other figures, in business and other parts of society, political cover to push for restrictions to be eased. If someone had made this point over the weekend, they might have been accused of being a supporter of the DA . Now, they can point to Manuel. Certainly, it will make it harder for people to dismiss the argument from the get-go.
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