On 15 August 2021 the current State of Disaster was supposed to expire but due to the continuously high infection and fatality figures the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, has extended the State of Disaster until 15 September 2021.
South Africa declared a national state of disaster under Section 27(1) and Section 27(2) of the Disaster Management Act on 15 March 2020 in response to the coronavirus pandemic and the government has relied on the state of disaster to introduce and give effect to lockdown restrictions, which it has used to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, it has also faced criticism for giving national government wide-ranging powers over the lives of citizens, with almost no limits, and little to no oversight from parliament. The opposition party Democratic Alliance has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to submit any possible extension of the national state of disaster to Parliament for approval and review.