If alcohol bans are to reduce demand on hospitals and save lives, then the decision of when to implement them should not be left to the national government, the wine industry argued in court.
Vinpro, a wine industry body, argued in its urgent case on Wednesday that the high court in Cape Town should allow the Western Cape premier to deviate from a June regulation banning the sale of alcohol and make a decision based on the province’s hospital capacity.
Vinpro advocate Johan De Waal argued that a ban should “not only be a question of saving lives and livelihoods, but also of speedy decision-making”.
The ban was implemented to reduce the number of alcohol-related trauma cases in hospitals battling problems in the third wave of Covid-19.
The industry argued that in all three waves of Covid-19, infections reached their highest points at different times in different provinces. De Waal said the third wave peaked in the Northern Cape in May and the latest liquor ban was enacted at the end of June — when it was too late for that province. “Invariably bans came too late for some provinces and too early for others.”
Vinpro argues the constitution gives the provincial government the authority to regulate the sale of liquor and provinces should be permitted to do this under the state of the disaster too, responding to their own level of infections more quickly than national government.
If successful, De Waal said it was not guaranteed that premier Alan Winde would lift the alcohol ban, but that he would make a provincially appropriate decision.
Vinpro also said a uniform ban across all provinces is unlawful in that it exceeds what a national state of disaster sets out to do — which is to protect the public.
Its third argument was that the ban infringes on constitutional rights including freedom of trade and the government needs a strong justification when limiting constitutional rights.
The government says provincial alcohol bans would allow interprovincial liquor smuggling, which Vinpro said is a weak justification for the ban, especially as roadblocks could be set up. Vinpro had offered to pay for the roadblocks.
Government advocates Nazreen Bawa and Karrisha Pillay said while provincial governments have the power to regulate the sale of alcohol in ordinary conditions, lockdown regulations are made under the Disaster Management Act, which gives powers to a national minister.
Pillay said the act did not allow for what the industry was asking — for a provincial premier to deviate from a lockdown regulation.
Bawa argued that an urgent court case with a single judge was not the right platform for a decision on whether the constitution gives the provincial or the national governments authority over liquor sales in a state of disaster.
The government faced an “unforgiving public” who took it to court no matter what it did, she said. In the recent court case against the same ban by SAB, the brewer argued the state had failed to consult sufficiently.
“Now we are told we take too long to take a decision because we consult too much,” Bawa said of Vinpro’s case.
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