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Tourists enjoy the beach at Plettenberg Bay on the Garden Route in the Western Cape, South Africa. (Photo: Flickr)
The decision to close the beaches on the Garden Route will now be challenged in the Western Cape Superior Court following a request from the Democratic Alliance. This follows the party’s threats to the national government to explain the decision, or it will face litigation.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is going to court to declare unconstitutional, illegal and invalid the regulations on beach closures on the Garden Route. This follows President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement earlier this week that due to high rates of Covid-19 transmission in the South Cape, the area would be declared an access point and beaches would be closed between December 16, 2020 and January 3, 2021.
Read on Daily Maverick: Holiday Beach Ban for Eastern Cape and Garden Route as Ramaphosa Tightens Covid-19 Regulations
The next day, Tuesday, December 15, DA leader John Steenhuisen sent a letter from a lawyer asking the national government for an explanation about the widespread closure of the beaches on the Garden Route. The district is a popular holiday destination in the Western Cape, which is the only province governed by the DA. The party, through its lawyers, gave the government until 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 16, to respond or would initiate litigation to overturn the decision, which Steenhuisen described as “dangerously irrational.”
On Wednesday night, the party granted the government an extension until 10 a.m. on Thursday, December 17, following a request from the Presidency. “The fact that the national government has requested additional time to prepare a response to our letter requesting the reasons for the decision to close the Garden Route beaches only shows that there were none to begin with. It would seem that the reasons given now would be fabricated ex post facto, ”the official opposition leader said Wednesday night.
On Thursday afternoon, the party announced that it would make the decision on the review, having filed documents in the Western Cape Superior Court.
“The Office of the Prosecutor and our governments in the coastal municipalities of the Western Cape have fought vehemently against the closure of beaches during the festive season, as such regulation is not in line with the scientific advice available from medical experts and is impossible to do comply, “Steenhuisen said. , adding, “this regulation is also proving to be the final nail in the coffin for the coastal economies of the Garden Route that are on the brink of total collapse.”
Steenhuisen said that in the fight to save lives and jobs, “no Covid-19 regulation can be imposed that eliminates employment and has no rational basis in medical and scientific practice. Doing so will only create a much more dangerous pandemic of widespread poverty and job loss, which we are already witnessing. ”
The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, President Cyril Ramaphosa, the Minister of Health, Dr. Zweli Mkhize and the Prime Minister of the Western Cape, Alan Winde, are listed as respondents in the case.
Access the full motion notice here.
The district attorney is seeking a cost order only against Dlamini-Zuma. This request will be heard on Monday, December 21.
‘Limited access to beaches, which are public spaces, amounts to a limitation of basic human rights’
In another possible lawsuit, the Great Brak Business Forum, guesthouse owner Louis Cook and AfriForum have filed a notice of motion against Cogta and the health ministers as well as the Western Cape Premier in Gauteng High Court to declare the prohibition unconstitutional, illegal and invalid.
Respondents had until 12 pm on Thursday, December 17, to submit their affavidits. In a statement, AfriForum said that “limited access to beaches, which are public spaces, amounts to a limitation of basic human rights.”
Read on Daily Maverick: Eastern Cape Premier welcomes beach closures – AfriForum heads to court
Meanwhile, Garden Route District Township Mayor Memory Booysen told broadcaster eNCA Wednesday morning: “Based on those results, we are also weighing our options because based on how the president and the Dr. Dlamini Zuma, in what they have in front of them, but we reserve our legal options. ”
On Thursday morning, the DA-led Kouga Municipality in the Eastern Cape also announced that it would seek legal redress over the closure of beaches in that province.
“Tourism is one of the key economic sectors in Koga, and the Eastern Cape, especially during the busy summer holiday season. The closure of the beaches will have a devastating economic impact on the people of Kouga and the rest of the province, and we cannot stand by and allow our businesses, residents and visitors to suffer, ”said Andrew Whitfield, DA Province President. Eastern Cape.
He said the closure of beaches and parks will lead people to congregate in other places, such as private residences, where the risk of infection is even higher.
“Kouga Township, governed by DA, will take up the fight to reopen our beaches … we hope that the success of our application will lead to the reopening of all provincial beaches,” said Whitfield.
On Thursday afternoon, Kouga Township Mayor Horatio Hendricks said that “our court request will be based on the importance of balancing saving lives and saving livelihoods.”
In a statement, Hendricks said that the Covid-19 curve has not spiked significantly over the past three weeks, “which is encouraging and supported by the high percentage of recoveries.”
Hendricks described the holiday season as “a last lifeline for many employers and employees who have already suffered huge losses over the past nine months. If the beaches remain closed, the impact on business, retention and job creation will be devastating. ”
Hendricks would say that the beach closures were “too harsh.”
But the Eastern Cape Prime Minister’s office responded to Kouga Township.
“The decision of the Kouga municipality to take the national government to court for the decision to close the beaches in the province is nothing more than reckless behavior by people who do not value the safety and health of the people of this province,” said Mvusi Sicwetsha. spokesman for the Eastern Cape Prime Minister Oscar Mabuyane.
Sicwetsha said municipality leaders wanted to expose the people of the Eastern Cape to Covid-19.
“The leadership of the Kouga municipality has been consulted on this since they were part of the Intergovernmental Relations structures, such as the Provincial Command Council for Coronavirus Expansion, the meeting between the provincial government and the mayors of the coastal municipalities that took this decision “, said Sicwetsha and added:” the same structures decided that this decision be recommended to the national government. ”
Sicwetsha said the municipality raised no objections during the meetings.
“What they are doing now is playing party politics because their late decision seems to be a boost from the AD structures. That means that, together with the district attorney, they want to expose the people of this province to covid-19 infections. This is bad. We are doing everything in our power to prevent the spread of this virus, while some people are making reckless statements, “he said.
“We support the government’s decision and we will support the national government if it is taken to court for making a good decision,” Sicwetsha said.
The Kouga Municipality’s court application is still in the finalization process. DM
