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By Sihle Mlambo 
3h ago
Johannesburg – The Great Brak River Business Forum, AfriForum and a guesthouse owner have filed an urgent court application in North Gauteng High Court in a bid to get the Garden Route beaches to reopen during the holiday season.
In court documents, Great Brak River Business Forum President Wilhelm De Wet, guesthouse owner Louis Cook, and AfriForum argue that the decision to close the Garden Route beaches between December 16 and December 3 January was draconian and inconsiderate, and it was against the interest of thousands of people. of people who work in various sectors of the area.
Respondents on the matter are Cooperative Governance Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize and the Government of the Western Cape.
Applicants are looking to have restrictions similar to those imposed on KZN beaches, where beaches will only be closed on public holidays: December 16, 25, 31 and January 1-3.
They argue in court documents that the decision has a terrible impact on the Garden Route region, saying that it is the seventh most popular tourist destination in South Africa and that businesses in the area depend on the holiday season to provide a required financial blessing. . to sustain their business.
“The Cogta minister did not invite representations or presentations from interested parties, including key players within the tourism sector in the affected and targeted areas, in particular the Garden Route District, regarding the intention to enact these strict and damaging impositions. .
“It is respectfully alleged that Regulation 69 (12) (a) – (d) promulgated on December 15, 2020, constitutes a procedurally unfair administrative action because the regulation materially and adversely affects the rights of applicants and, secondly, The Minister of Cogta did not follow a notification and comment procedure before promulgating the Regulations. 87 88. 8’9.
“The regulations exist without discernible or actual distinction, and have and / or exhibit zero rational justification for the restrictions they seek to impose on applicants, their members and South Africans in general,” De Wet said in the filing affidavit.
The plaintiffs claim that the regulation in question is declared unconstitutional, illegal and invalid.
Garden Route District Township and Sarah Baartman District Township were declared hot spots Monday during President Cyril Ramaphosa’s address to the nation. The two municipalities joined the Nelson Mandela Bay metro, which was the first district in the country to be declared a Covid hotspot.
But in court documents, the applicants criticize Dlamini Zuma for failing to provide substantiated reasons and evidence to support the decision.
“There is no clarity or reason that has been provided or discernible to explain the Cogta minister’s decision to subject beaches in general, and specific beaches identified in the regulations, in particular, to additional and stricter scrutiny.
“Given the unfortunate recent history of conduct by the Cogta Minister, underscored by numerous findings and adverse judgments challenging her alleged decision-making process, it has become pertinent and essential that applicants process this application urgently.
“The plaintiffs seek, as a result, that the defendants pay the plaintiffs’ costs in the application, including attorney’s costs, jointly and severally, paying each other to be acquitted,” the plaintiffs said.
De Wet also argues that closing the beaches has a direct impact on the sustainability of travel and lodging businesses in the Garden Route area.
“The (travel and lodging) industry is inextricably linked to beachgoers, and to deny the main pillar of the tourism industry on the Garden Route is to stifle or, indeed, completely strangle the tourism, travel and lodging industry and the economy as a whole.
“In addition, another characteristic of the tourism industry in the Garden Route District is the seasonality of said socio-economic activity.
“This creates a situation where the industry is almost completely dependent on and dependent on the sharp increase in business and revenue during the year-end holiday period.
“As an example, we present that the second applicant’s guesthouse receives approximately 25% of its annual income in the month of December alone,” he said.
He also said that the decision to impose the beach ban was a limitation of rights, was draconian and inconsiderate and did not consider means less restrictive than said should have been considered.
“The fact that the Minister of the Cogta and the government have not done so further tarnishes the legality and legality of the decision and makes the decision arbitrary and irrational.
“In a respectful way, the limitations of rights that the regulations in question seek, cannot be justified in the requirements of article 36 of the Constitution.
“Furthermore, it cannot be credibly argued that the implementation of restrictive measures in the regulations by the Cogta minister and other respondents is rationally connected to the purpose for which such measures are implemented and the rights are limited.
“The irrationality of the conduct becomes evident if the rights that have been illegally limited are compared with the dire economic consequences that will result, and that will contribute even more (as it already happens) to the socioeconomic difficulties, the risks to public health and, unfortunately the desecration of rights in terms, among others, of articles 10, 16 and 22 of the Constitution, ”he said.
MESS
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