Business group halts legal action against government’s cooked food ban
The group was set to file for legal action against Minister Ebrahim Patel on Monday morning regarding the ban of the sale of cooked food.
Business group Sakeliga has not yet filed court papers against the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Ebrahim Patel regarding the ban on cooked foods.
The group was set to file for legal action against Patel on Monday morning.
Sakeliga spokesperson Daniel du Plessis said the group did not file for legal action as it was in discussion with the department.
He said the department requested more time to seek legal advice on the group’s request to lift the ban of the sale of cooked foods.
He, however, said should the group receive an urgent application from any food trader for legal assistance – including informal traders, it would go ahead with urgent legal action despite the current discussions.
“We are giving the department a little room to negotiate but ultimately should there be a crisis then our position would be to pursue legal action,” he said.
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Du Plessis said the department needed to consider the economic repercussions of the ban on informal food traders that depended on daily earnings to provide for their families.
“There is also an issue of truck drivers that need food while on the road transporting goods. This is an essential need for them,” he said.
“There is no real reason to why this sort of thing (cooked foods) needs to be prohibited. Internationally many countries allow restaurants to be open, provided there are regulations in place such as delivering take-outs.
In South Africa, we are too strict, and many people will suffer as they will lose their jobs.”
Group CEO Piet le Roux believed the ban was “unlawful, irrational, and harmful” to the food production industry.
Le Roux said the group was advised that there is no lawful restriction on the production of warm, cooked or prepared food.
“We have also been advised by senior counsel that there is no lawful basis on which the CIPC (Companies and Intellectual Property Commission) can certify whether products and services are essential or not,” Le Roux said.
He said almost every food item on shop shelves was either cooked, warmed, or prepared in some way, which is why it did not “make sense” to ban cooked foods.
“From pasta to canned food, bread, vegetables, cold meats to dairy products, and one can go on,” he said.
Le Roux proposed that restaurants should convert to essential service providers like delis, bakeries, supermarkets, and other food production entities that sell and do deliveries but are not open to public seating and serving.
This after Patel called for the public to report supermarkets selling prepared food during the lockdown period, which he said was not allowed.
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