Sakeliga cautions against state mediation after two attempts
23 May 2020
Business group Sakeliga today cautioned against state-regulated mediation processes in urgent matters relating to Covid19-regulations. An unanswered request for mediation lodged on 2 May and further regulatory overreach on 12 May 2020 resulted in Sakeliga issuing an urgent application against the State on 15 May 2020. Sakeliga is asking the court to set aside several business licensing requirements, under which businesses are forced to seek pre-approval from the State.
Mediation
The 2 May mediation request was made in terms of Regulation 13 of the State of Disaster Regulations published on 30 April. Receipt of this request was acknowledged by a number of state officials, but otherwise ignored.
Sakeliga then proceeded with its litigation and on 15 May served urgent papers on the President, on the Minister of COGTA and several others, including the National Corona Virus Command Council (NCCC).