Cele defends film production shutdown as city of Cape Town seeks injunction – the Citizen



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The Minister of Police, General Bheki Cele, has defended the closure of the filming of the filming production in Camps Bay, Cape Town, on Wednesday 16 December.

Cape Town’s beaches narrowly avoided the latest government Covid-19 restrictions after they were allowed to remain open between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., with the exception of those in the Eastern Cape and Garden Route in the Western Cape.

On Wednesday, Cele and officials from the South African Police Service (SAPS) conducted an inspection of Cape Town’s beaches in an effort to ensure citizens were complying with regulations.

Bheki Cele visits various beaches in Cape Town to assess compliance with Covid-19 regulations. Image: SAPS

The minister and his entourage visited Camps Bay, Strand, Clifton, Munwabisi, Big Bay, Strandfontein, Macassar, Mnandi and other beaches in and around the city.

READ MORE: The beaches are closed but we have rivers, lagoons says the mayor of Mossel Bay

During the inspection, Cele noted with concern about the film’s production – who were filming a commercial allowed by the City of Cape Town – that “did not comply with what is allowed on the beaches, as stipulated by the Covid-19 regulation.

“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 said in a statement.

Cape Town City Mayor’s Committee Member for Safety and Security JP Smith revealed that the city would approach the court to ban Cele interfering with future outbreaks.

“I just had two senior officials and a legal advisor review them [Covid-19 regulations]. So now they will approach the court for an urgent injunction to prevent the minister from continuing interfere with the legal rights of other people, ”Smith said.

Meanwhile, Garden Route Municipality, Great Brak Business Forum, lobby group AfriForum, and the Democratic Alliance (DA) are also looking to challenge the decision to close the beaches on the Garden Route during the holiday season due to Covid-19.

In a notice of motion filed in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday, the business forum and AfriForum stated their intention to have Regulations 69 (12) (a), (b), (c) and (d) amended. of Covid-19. ) declared unconstitutional.

AfriForum said in a statement that limiting access to beaches, which were public property, amounted to restricting a basic human right.

The regulation states that all Eastern Cape and Garden Route beaches will be closed from December 16 to January 3, 2021.

However, the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) beaches will only be closed on the busiest days of the season, i.e. December 16, 25, 26, and 31, as well as January 1-3.

Additional Reports from News24 Wire

READ NEXT: Garden Route’s closed beaches will be ‘devastating’ to WC’s economy – Winde

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