DA to argue case in court tomorrow over personal care industry ban

The Democratic Alliance (DA) will present its case on Friday in court to have the “irrational and unconstitutional” ban on personal care services overturned.

In a statement, DA MP Dean Macpherson said the oral argument would take place at the Western Cape High Court at 10am.

“This is an important case for the DA, but also for the hundreds of thousands of South Africans that have had their livelihoods shattered by the inaction of government to set in place health regulations that will allow hairdressers, beauticians and tattoo artists to operate in a safe environment for them and their customers,” he said.

Macpherson said the party was looking forward to the opportunity to hopefully get “the hardworking men and women in the personal care industry back to work so that they too can keep a roof over their head and put food on their table”.

The MP said on Monday that the DA had been left with no choice, but to take Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to court over the continued ban after she failed to budge on the party’s ultimatum to provide reasons behind the ban.

Dlamini-Zuma was given until last week Wednesday to respond, but she did not do so despite her department acknowledging that it had received a letter requesting an explanation behind the decision.

Last week, in a legal letter by Minde Schapiro and Smith attorneys, the DA complained that the government had not provided any evidence to support its stance.

It requested that the minister explain which Cabinet member was responsible for issuing the directions in terms of Item 7 in Table 2 of the amended disaster management regulations, which speaks to the continued ban of hairdressing, beauty treatments, make-up and nail salons, and piercing and tattoo parlours.

It also asked for timelines as to when the prohibition would be lifted, the criteria to be used by the relevant minister when lifting the ban on personal care services, as well as the criteria used when the government decided to allow for religious gatherings to resume.

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