Saai court actions result in annulment of Level 3
18 August 2020
Pressure exerted by several court cases on the irrational regulations proclaimed by Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Minister of Cooperative Government and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), under Levels 4 and 3 of the state of disaster forced her to abolish Level 3 in its entirety in an unusual step on 17 August 2020. This follows after Saai had fought on several fronts against the draconian lockdown regulations, including the ban on the sale of tobacco and alcohol and the restrictions on hunting.
The decision by Dlamini-Zuma came after Saai in its court documents had pointed out that the decision to ban the sale of alcohol was based on obsolete data, poor argumentation and incorrect predictions, as was also shown in the court case brought by Saai and BATSA against the ban on tobacco products on 3 August 2020. In her court documents concerning the ban on the sale of wine the Minister also seriously floundered, not taking into account the legislation distinguishing between wine and other alcohol products.
The Minister also complained about the logistics involved in possibly allowing the sale of liquor in some provinces. In this regard, Saai pointed out that the normal structure of liquor regulations in accordance with the Constitution was already being dealt with at provincial level. Acting Chief Justice Sulet Potterill on Friday decided to postpone Saai’s urgent application to save about 240 family wine estates and 21 000 job opportunities on them to 24 August 2020 to serve before a full bench.
Prior to promulgation of the new Level 2 regulations, the Minister’s legal team requested Saai on 16 August to withdraw the case against the ban on wine following the speech by President Cyril Ramaphosa. Saai refused to have the case struck from the roll in view of the Minister’s previous promulgation of regulations in contrast with the President’s speeches. To Saai it was of cardinal importance to have the wording of the Level 2 regulations studied by its legal team before making any decision. On Monday the Minister shocked the country by annulling Level 3 in its entirety.