South Africa to remove criminal records from Covid lockdown

South Africa’s parliament has approved a law that will erase criminal records for people who were convicted of breaking Covid-19 lockdown rules.

South Africa had very strict rules which led to over 400,000 people getting arrested. These arrests were for things like not wearing masks, drinking alcohol, and breaking curfew.

People who admitted they did something wrong and paid money as a punishment will no longer have any official records of that wrongdoing.

Many South Africans are happy about this bill.

This text means that the approval of the National Council of Provinces and the signature of President Cyril Ramaphosa are required for it to become law. However, it is highly likely that it will become law.

The bill to make changes to the legal system received widespread political backing during discussions in parliament.

The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), which was in favor of the bill, pointed out how having a criminal record made it hard for some people to get jobs.

ACDP MP Steven Swart expressed his hope that we will not have any more unreasonable rules that were made without involvement or supervision from Parliament.

In April 2021, the police minister, Bheki Cele, stated that 411,309 individuals were taken into custody for breaking the rules during the lockdown.

It’s not known how many of the people who were arrested were eventually found guilty.

But, some MPs did not vote for the bill to become a law.

The EFF, a left-wing political party, liked some parts of the bill but couldn’t support the entire bill.

EFF MP Veronica Mente said that during the pandemic, the regulations from the Disaster Management Act led to prosecutions and persecutions. This showed how the judiciary system could be used to severely restrict people’s rights.

“May the law never be used for bad intentions like what happened during the Covid-19 pandemic. ”