The DA (Democratic Alliance) filed urgent papers on 8 June in the Western Cape High Court to have the ban and criminalisation of ‘personal care’ services, which includes hairdressers, declared invalid and unconstitutional.
This action comes after the DA gave Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, a deadline of 14h00 on 3 June 2020 to provide them with the reasons and rationale for the ban.
A DA statement reads: “The Minister has also failed to meet a self-imposed deadline to publish regulations for the industry as she had promised by 5 June 2020. We have therefore been left with no choice but to take this legal step to save the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people who have suffered at the hands of this government that does not care about them, and could not be bothered to provide any reasons for their hardship.
“In our papers, we have argued that the blanket prohibition on the entire personal care industry is irrational and arbitrary, which is prohibited from operating indefinitely, subject to the whims of some unidentified Minister that should provide ‘directions’ for the industry.
“The DA looks forward to meeting the Minister in court as soon as possible and will continue fighting for the rights of South Africans to earn a living in a way that upholds their constitutional rights. We also believe that it is simply unjustifiable that almost every other industry is allowed to operate subject to health projects except the personal care industry.”
Meanwhile, on 9 June, the Bargaining Council and its parties – UASA, The Union and EOHCB (Employers Organisation for Hairdressing Cosmetology Beauty) – issued a statement which reads: “The Council and the parties have been working relentlessly on a presentation relating to the protocols to secure the return of personal care services on various forums and Ministerial Departments.
“Great successes have been achieved in that indication was given by Government that it is in the final stages of finalising health protocols for the Industry that will be critical to the prevention of the spread of COVID-19.
“Once these protocols have been finalised, Government will allow Hairdressing, Beauty and related services to resume. This was done by way of interactive and constructive processes without the necessity of becoming embroiled in any legal contest.
“Although the Industry has been severely affected by the consequences of the lockdown and not being able to operate for more than two months, everything possible is being done to ensure that personal care services resume at the first possible opportunity thereby, as far as possible mitigating the economic hardship suffered.”