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Bheki Cele prevented a film crew from filming a commercial on Camps Bay beach. (Archive, Adrian de Kock)
- Police Minister Bheki Cele ordered a film crew to stop filming a commercial on Camps Bay beach, saying they were contravening national Covid-19 regulations.
- Cele said a city ordinance cannot override national regulations. The minister was out for a walk on the beaches of Cape Town on Reconciliation Day
- The city of Cape Town said it would approach the high court urgently to reverse Cele’s action.
The city of Cape Town says it will take legal action against Police Minister Bheki Cele for closing the filming of a commercial on Cape Town’s Camps Bay beach on Wednesday.
Cele was out walking the beaches of Cape Town when an altercation occurred with a film crew in Camps Bay.
“This contravenes Covid-19 regulations by having additional activity on the beach, which the president and regulations say cannot occur,” he told a man at the scene, who identified himself as “JP.” It turned out to be JP Smith, the member of the city’s mayor’s committee for safety.
Smith insisted that the filming was allowed by regulations and that the city of Cape Town had granted more permits.
He told Cele, “I am happy to discuss this with the filming officer. Our filming chief assured me that this is within the regulations.”
However, the minister would not accept any of that.
“This cannot go on … we are closing this. You know you are breaking the law and you know the regulations do not allow it,” he said.
In a statement released later after the incident, Smith said the City would urgently approach the superior court to challenge Cele’s decision to stop film production.
The filming of a commercial was authorized by the city’s charter office, he said.
“Shutting down film production without good cause is illegal and goes against current national disaster regulations, which allow the film industry to continue to function. I am concerned about the autocratic way the minister behaved. It is concerning that political office holder appears to be giving illegal instructions to operational personnel where SAPS officers continued to carry out this illegal behavior, “he said.
Filming, Smith added, was a work activity and should not “be misconstrued as recreational activity.”
Cele, in a statement, said that the “activity of a private company” had been closed, and that although the City allowed it, “the production did not comply with what is allowed on the beaches, as stipulated in the Covid-19 regulations “. .
“According to the permission of the producer that was given to the SAPS, the production would go against the same rules established by the President that are clear about what is allowed on the beaches and therefore cannot be allowed to continue for now”.
Cele and his deputy Cassel Mathale also visited the beaches of Strand, Clifton, Monwabisi, Big Bay, Strandfontein and Macassar on Wednesday.
