Former Constitutional Court judge Kate O'Regan has been appointed as the designate judge to oversee the tracing of those who have contracted Covid-19.
She was appointed by Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola.
His spokesperson, Chrispin Phiri, said regulations issued in terms of Section 27(2) of the Disaster Management Act make provision for contact tracing and for a national database to enable the tracing of those who have come into contact with any person to have contracted the virus.
"Regulation 11H empowers Lamola to designate a judge, who has been discharged from active service or a retired High Court judge, as the Covid-19 designated judge.
"The regulations provide that the director-general (DG) of health may direct an electronic communications service provider to provide him or her with information regarding the location or movements of any person known, or reasonably suspected, to have contracted Covid-19 or any person known, or reasonably suspected, to have come into contact with such a person. The requested information would be for inclusion in the Covid-19 tracing database," said Phiri.
Phiri said while government does all it can to implement measures to fight the spread of Covid-19, O'Regan has an important role to play to safeguard the privacy and personal information of persons during this process.
"The DG of health must file a weekly report with O'Regan, setting out the names and details of all persons whose location or movements were so obtained.
"O'Regan may also make such recommendations to cabinet members responsible for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Health, Justice and Correctional Services as she deems fit, regarding the amendment or enforcement of this regulation in order to safeguard the right to privacy while ensuring the ability of the Department of Health to engage in urgent and effective contact tracing to address, prevent and combat the spread of Covid-19," Phiri said.
O'Regan is a former judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, having served for 15 years from 1994 to 2009.
She acted as Deputy Chief Justice in the absence of Justice Dikgang Moseneke during 2008. Since 2010, she has served as an ad hoc judge of the Supreme Court of Namibia.
From 2008 to 2012, she served as Chairperson of the United Nations Internal Justice Council, a body established by the General Assembly to help ensure independence and accountability in the internal system of justice within the United Nations.
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Since 2011, she has served as president of the International Monetary Fund Administrative Tribunal and, since 2012, as a member of the World Bank Sanctions Board.
O'Regan was also the co-chairperson of the commission of inquiry into inefficiencies in policing in Khayelitsha.
She is a visiting professor at the University of Oxford and an honorary professor at the University of Cape Town.
"Justice O'Regan is a highly respected former judge of our Constitutional Court and is known for her unwavering commitment to human rights, social justice and the rule of law.
"I am grateful to Justice O'Regan for availing herself for this role, so as to ensure that while we fight Covid-19, people's rights to privacy are not compromised," Lamola said
News24
