File
The Democratic Alliance said it would turn to the courts for “urgent relief” to overturn the closure of beaches on the Garden Route for the Festive Season.
DA leader, John Steenhuisen, said “we have given the President until 17:00 on Wednesday, 16 December 2020 to respond, failing which we will approach the courts for urgent relief.”
He said Western Cape Premier Alan Winde has told National Government repeatedly that beach-going in the Western Cape does not present a significant threat of Covid-19 infection.
“The provincial government has submitted various hotspot containment plans demonstrating that the Western Cape is adequately capacitated to manage the seasonal influx of tourists who visit our province for its beach tourism,” he said.
Steenhuisen said such a regulation would also be the final nail in the coffin for the Garden Route’s coastal economies which are nearing total collapse.
He said “it is also our view that national government has not been fair and consistent in its imposition of this regulation across the country.’
Steenhuisen said infection rates between the Garden Route and KwaZulu-Natal, for example, were not dissimilar, yet “while beach closures in KwaZulu-Natal are limited to but a few days, the Garden Route has had a blanket restriction imposed unjustly for the entire festive season.”
Meanwhile, the civil rights organisation AfriForum said “it introduced a motion in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria” on Tuesday to have the beach closures declared unconstitutional.
“According to AfriForum the limiting of access to beaches, that are public property, amounts to the restriction of a basic human right.
“In terms of the Constitution, a basic human right such as freedom of movement can only be restricted if it is firstly justifiable and secondly if it is supported by generally acceptable legislation.”
Afriforum said the government can thus not have different regulations for different beaches considering that it is not a legal principle with general acceptability.
“The civil rights organisation agrees that mass gatherings on beaches must be prohibited seeing that no social distancing is maintained during these gatherings.
“It is unconstitutional and discriminatory to close certain beaches given the enormous economic impact that it will have on especially coastal towns, that have been suffering the whole year due to the lockdown regulations.
The Eastern Cape Government welcomed the regulations saying the province was ready to roll out the Festive Season Safety plan.
