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By Marvin Charles 
54m ago
Cape Town – The Western Cape Superior Court ruled in favor of beach closures after the district attorney went to court to order the Garden Route beaches reopened.
The high court, however, decided to modify the hours of operation of the beach that the DA has managed to change from 09:00 to 18:00, from 06:00 to 19:00.
In a statement, Attorney General John Steenhuisen said: “While we are disappointed by the ruling in favor of beach closures, we welcome the modified hours of operation for the beach.”
He said the party was still deeply concerned about the total closure of the Garden Route beaches during the holiday season.
“While we respect the ruling, we understand that this ruling continues to be a devastating blow to the thousands of small businesses along the Garden Route that are now at grave risk of collapse.
“This problem will not go away once South Africa emerges from the coronavirus pandemic, and we cannot ignore the risk to livelihoods posed by many lockdown restrictions,” Steenhuisen said.
The party argued that a balance had to be found between saving lives and preserving the nation’s economy. His argument relied heavily on the closure of the Garden Route beaches, where cities rely heavily on tourism.
In another case, in the Eastern Cape, the municipality of Kouga submitted an urgent request to the courts to annul the decision to close all beaches in the province.
The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria will also deliver its ruling on Wednesday in three separate lawsuits requesting that certain beaches in the Eastern Cape and those along the Garden Route be opened to the public during this time.
Judge Hans Fabricius, who is hearing the matter, requested a copy of the order from the Western Cape Superior Court before passing his sentence.
Cape Argus
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