Uncertainty raised on ‘hot foods’ regulation causes community debate
DUNKELD – Lockdown regulations come into question as residents gather to get their coffee fix.
The community remains uncertain about the lockdown food regulations after a bakery in Dunkeld was in the spotlight on social media.
Images shared by Ward 117 councillor Tim Truluck showed a number of residents waiting in line to purchase a take-away coffee while others remained gathered outside of the bakery.
“I am sure that all the other restaurants and coffee shops in South Africa would love to be doing this too,” Truluck said on social media.
Although the bakery was subsequently closed after a visit from the Johannesburg Metro Police Department on the same day, the post caused a stir on social media.
Users began to question if the bakery was in fact operating in line with the lockdown regulations as set out by the Biz Portal and the Department of Trade and Industry.
“The law is the law. You don’t have to like it but you’re expected to uphold it. We cannot choose which laws we’d like to uphold. Takeout coffee isn’t an essential item. Stay home.” – @dr_nadav
“Do they not have homes? Get your coffee and go. This is just an excuse to organise coffee dates with friends under the guise of bumping into them at the bakery.” – @Kgothatso
On 20 April, the regulation was amended in the Government Gazette, stating that ‘any food product, including non-alcoholic beverages, but excluding cooked hot food’.
#COVID19 | Amendment of #LockdownSA Regulations issued in terms of section 27 (2) #CoronaVirusSA #Day25ofLockdown #StayHome pic.twitter.com/Vo69FW1yUe
— Presidency | South Africa 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) April 20, 2020
Minister of Trade and Industry Ebrahim Patel defended this decision, stating that the ban on hot and prepared foods was done to limit the amount of time that people are spent in retail shops.
— BizPortal (@BizPortalGovZa) April 18, 2020
“Across the country, we have enormous numbers of places selling hot foods and this would create a huge number of people moving out of homes to get hot foods. Those are vectors of transmission. In this phase we’re in, it’s about limit of movement,” Patel said on radio station 702 on 21 April.
Efforts to contact the bakery in question have been unsuccessful at this time.
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