The government has come under fire for its ban on the sale of cooked food during the lockdown, with one political party mulling legal action and another calling it “irrational”.
The prohibition notice was published in the Government Gazette on Monday after an amendment to Annexure B of the disaster regulations.
The amendment allows for the sale of "any food product, including non-alcoholic beverages, but excluding cooked hot food".
The Democratic Alliance said it had given Trade and Industry Minister Ebrahim Patel until noon on Tuesday to give his rationale for the ban after which it will decide whether to proceed to court.
DA spokesperson on Trade and Industry, Dean Macpherson, said that it was baffling to understand the Minister’s motivation given that the World Health Organisation had not advised a ban.
The publication of the amendment followed a statement by Patel last week that selling hot cooked food was illegal, and that all supermarkets had to close the prepared food counters at their shops.
The Freedom Front Plus said the Minister had replaced an unlawful stipulation with an irrational one.
“Before the amendment, there was, in legal terms, no stipulation in the lockdown regulations that made provision for the exclusion of any category of food products,” said the party’s spokesperson on Trade and Industry, Jaco Mulder.
“This irrational decision may even prevent the preparation and distribution of essential food products to the needy,” he said.
Constitutional law expert Pierre de Vos said it was difficult to give a definitive answer as to whether the government was overreaching constitutional limits with certain of its prohibitions.
He said some of the regulations may fail to pass muster because they were simply too vague, including the prohibition on the sale of non-essential goods, because these are not clearly defined.
“We don’t know what the motivation is because they are not telling us. They may have an argument, be we just don’t know.”
Additional reporting – African News Agency - ANA
