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BL Premium reports that Vinpro, the wine industry body that is taking the government to court over the liquor sales ban, which it says threatens a key sector of the Western Cape economy, has argued that provincial authorities should have the power to make alcohol regulations under the national state of disaster.
The organisation, which represents more than 2,500 wine farmers and large-scale wine producers, has adopted a two-fold legal strategy, namely asking the court to lift the prohibition in the Western Cape, where the number of Covid-19 cases is stabilising; and arguing that the government has interpreted the Disaster Management Act incorrectly. The third ban on alcohol sales since SA first went into lockdown in March 2020 to contain the spread of Covid-19 threatens to devastate the industry and cost SA jobs and investment. The government argues that it is necessary to reduce trauma-related admissions as hospitals battle the pandemic. Vinpro attorney Charles van Breda says the provision of health services and licensing of alcohol retail outlets are responsibilities of provincial authorities. So "the premier, in conjunction with the provincial government, should be authorised to decide when there is [an] alcohol ban and when there should be a lifting". Vinpro will also argue that the lockdown restrictions need to be differentiated between provinces that have different rates of Covid-19 patients and varying hospital capacity. It said: "The government has used and maintained nationwide bans which are overbroad, unnecessary, unjustified and, indeed, counterproductive. A more flexible, nimble approach is needed."
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Katharine Child at BusinessLive (paywall access only)
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