CAPE TOWN - The Western Cape High Court will on Friday hear an urgent application asking that the coronavirus lockdown regulation barring hair and other personal care salons from reopening be struck down.
The application will be heard at 10am, said the DA spokesperson 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 Co-operative Governance Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma as the first respondent.
In its founding affidavit, the DA argued that Parliament has not delegated authority to the minister to indefinitely prohibit an entire industry from trading.
"If it has, that delegations is unconstitutional," it added.
The party, which was joined in the application by the Cape Town-based Palladium Hair company, said that it was irrational to keep the personal grooming industry closed while almost all sectors of the economy were allowed to reopen, with stringent health protocols, under alert level 3 of the ongoing nationwide Covid-19 lockdown.
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 questions immediately on Thursday.
The case comes one week after the minister was ordered by the North Gauteng High Court to redraft the regime of lockdown regulations because they were irrational and unconstitutional. In that judgment, the ban on hair salons was among those singled out for criticism by Judge Norman Davis.
Dlamini Zuma earlier this week asked the court for leave to appeal the ruling.