The High Court in Cape Town has reserved judgment in the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) application to have beaches in the Garden Route District Municipality reopened.
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced last week that beaches in the district would be closed over the festive season due to the high number of coronavirus infections during the second wave of the pandemic.
The DA took the matter to court as it believes that the restrictions will negatively affect the tourism sector and lead to further job losses.
DA spokesperson Siviwe Gwarube says the party is confident that judgment will be handed down soon.
“Ours is a fight to save lives from COVID- 19 but also to save people’s livelihoods and that is why we have been sieged with this matter to that government must explore different ways of being able to enforce restrictions on public spaces to make sure that there is no gathering in public spaces.”
President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed South Africans last week following a resurgence of COVID-19 cases in the country. He announced measures to reduce infections as the country headed into the festive season.
As of Monday, South Africa reported 8 789 new confirmed COVID-19 cases bringing the cumulative total to 930 711 cases.
Here are some of the measures the President announced:
- The Garden Route & Sarah Bartmaan district municipalities join Nelson Mandela Bay as COVID-19 hotspots
- All drivers of public transport must ensure passengers wear masks
- All gatherings (including religious gatherings) must not exceed a capacity of 100 people indoors and 250 outdoors
- Beaches & public parks:
- Eastern Cape: All closed
- Western Cape: Only Garden Route
- KwaZulu-Natal: all closed on 16, 25 and 26 December as well as 1, 2 and 3 January
- No parties or festivals at beaches, no New Year’s Eve parties
- Curfew hours extended from 11pm to 4am
- Non-essential establishments including restaurants & bars must close at 10pm
- Sale of Alcohol restricted to 10am to 6pm, Monday to Thursday only
- Alcohol consumption at all beaches & parks strictly prohibited
The President added that all of the above will be reviewed in early January 2021 under the National State of Disaster
