South Africa court rules lockdown restrictions unconstitutional

On Tuesday, a South Africa high court declared the government’s coronavirus lockdown restrictions as "unconstitutional and invalid".

The court however suspended the order for 14 days, meaning the rules still apply for now.

Part of the written judgement read, “The regulations...in a substantial number of instances are not rationally connected to the objectives of slowing the rate of infection or limiting the spread thereof.”

The case was filed by Liberty Fighters Network, a community group that challenged the government's response measures announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Earlier in the week, South Africa moved to level 3 of the lockdown, allowing the vast majority of economic activity to resume.

However, many public places continue to remain closed, restaurants only open for takeaway and deliveries, and alcohol only sold at certain times.

The country also resumed its alcohol sales this week after a two-month ban.

The planned reopening of schools has been delayed for a week, as the country strives to pick up the pieces of an already crumbling economy.

 South Africa now has some 35,812 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, the highest in the African continent and about 755 deaths, with over 18,000 recoveries.