Beauty industry in court

The Western Cape High Court will today hear an urgent application asking that the Coronavirus lockdown regulation barring hairdressers, barbers and beauty salons from reopening be struck down.

The application will be heard at 10am, said the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) spokesman on Trade and Industry, Dean MacPherson.

The DA approached the court this week to have the ban set aside, arguing that it is irrational and unconstitutional.

“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,” MacPherson said.

The party lists cooperative governance minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as the first respondent.

The DA argues that parliament has not delegated authority to the minister to indefinitely prohibit an entire industry from trading.

“If it has, that delegation is unconstitutional,” it adds.

STILL SHUT: Barbers

The DA, which is joined in the application by the Palladium Hair company, says that it is irrational to keep the personal grooming industry closed while almost all sectors of the economy was allowed to reopen in Alert Level 3.

Hundreds of thousands of people relied on the industry for a livelihood and most salons were small, independent operations, it said.

According to MacPherson, argument for both sides would be heard on Friday morning.

The court agreed to hear the matter within days of receiving the application.

Dlamini-Zuma’s office did not respond to queries on Thursday.

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