Ban on hairdressers irrational: DA will go to court  

Please click here for a soundbite by Dean Macpherson MP, DA Shadow Minister of Trade and Industry.

The Democratic Alliance’s (DA) lawyers has written to the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, over the continuous ban on personal care services, like hairdressers. See the letter here.

The continued criminalisation of the personal care services industry under Level 3 is irrational, arbitrary and unlawful, and should the Minister not answer the letter from our lawyers by 14:00 on Wednesday, 3 June, she will leave the DA no option but to litigate.

The fact is that Minister Dlamini-Zuma has not provided a shred of evidence as to why this industry can not return to work. It is completely unacceptable.

Thousands of people in this country earn a monthly income in this industry. Our litigation will especially be for the sake of the single mothers and the young entrepreneurs who have no other source of income than the personal care services they provide, often from their homes and other low-rent venues.

The continued ban of the personal care services industry bars hundreds of thousands of people from earning an income during an incredibly stressful and financially devastating period in South Africa, The Covid-19 pandemic is ripping lives and livelihoods apart and adding more dependents to the roll of grant recipients every day.

The National Treasury projected that 50% of South Africans could lose their jobs during the pandemic, and instead of trying to stem the tide, these nonsensical regulations from the Minister will simply ensure that those projections become set in stone.

It is very clear that these businesses are able to comply with sanitation protocols; have the ability to track and trace any client or employee who may have come into contact with anyone infected by Covid-19; and are able to adopt social distancing measures to prevent the spread of the disease amongst clients and employees.

It simply makes no sense that the personal care industry is excluded from taking part in the economy in a safe manner with proper Covid-19 hygiene protocols in place, when so many other industries are allowed to open during level 3 of the lockdown.

The DA will not stand for this and we will do what it takes to open up this industry as soon as possible and to get rid of this irrational and devastating regulation.

Statement issued by Dean Macpherson MP - DA Shadow Minister of Trade and Industry, 2 June 2020