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By Mayibongwe Maqhina 
57m ago
Cape Town – The district attorney has opposed the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, for bringing forward the closing time of restaurants and bars in the modified Covid-19 regulations.
On Saturday, DA deputy Dean Macpherson said that Dlamini Zuma decided to override President Cyril Ramaphosa in the latest amended regulations released Thursday.
“This time, Minister Dlamini Zuma has unilaterally decided to change the closing hours of restaurants, bars, gyms, cinemas, theaters and museums from 10am to 9pm,” Macpherson said.
On Monday, Ramaphosa said in his address to the nation that curfew hours would be longer, beginning at 11 p.m. and ending at 4 a.m.
“Non-essential establishments, including restaurants and bars, will have to close at 10 pm so that staff and customers can get home before the curfew is enforced,” he said in his national address.
Ramaphosa had said that the curfew was meant to avoid meetings that drag on late into the night, while allowing restaurants, bars and taverns to continue to operate and earn income.
Macpherson said it was not the first time Dlaimini Zuma had contradicted Ramaphosa, saying the U-turn in tobacco sales during the shutdown was the most famous.
“When the president speaks, his word must be final. A minister must not be allowed to promote his own agendas through regulations, as we have seen time and again.”
He said he has written to Dlamini Zuma and Ramaphosa requesting an urgent response as to why the closing time has been altered in this arrogant way.
“Establishments like restaurants need every hour they can to make up for the harsh and brutal lockdown they have been subjected to this year,” Macpherson said.
The district attorney is taking the government to court challenging the decision to close the beaches in the Garden Route district for the entirety of the holiday season.
Ramaphosa announced that the areas with the highest infection rate, beaches, and public parks would be closed during the holiday season from December 16 to January 3.
“This will apply to the entire Eastern Cape, as well as the Garden Route district in the Western Cape.
“In KwaZulu-Natal, beaches and public parks will be closed on what are traditionally the busiest days of the season,” he said.
He also said that the beaches and public parks of the Northern Cape and Western Cape, with the exception of the Garden Route, would remain open to the public during the holiday season.
Political Bureau
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