The Western Cape’s beaches, excluding the Garden Route, will now be open from 6am until 7pm daily. This comes after the High Court ruled against reopening beaches in the Garden Route, but conceded to extend hours for others.
The Democratic Alliance said it was disappointed by the ruling in favour of beach closures in the COVID-19 hotspot, but welcome the amended hours of beach operation that were changed from from 9am to 6pm, to 6am to 7pm.
St James Beach, Cape Town.
‘The DA is still deeply concerned that the blanket closure of the Garden Route’s beaches over the festive season will have far-reaching and devastating consequences for local economies, and for the livelihoods which depend on seasonal tourism during this time,’ The DA said in a statement.
‘While we respect the judgement, we understand that this ruling remains a devastating blow to the thousands of small businesses along the Garden Route which are now at serious risk of collapse. This problem will not go away once South Africa emerges from the coronavirus pandemic, and we cannot ignore the risk to livelihoods which many lockdown restrictions present.’
The DA said it will continue to act in both the interests of the lives and livelihoods of South Africans during the coronavirus pandemic to ensure that we keep citizens safe, and that ‘we still have an economy left once the dust has settled.’
Picture: Unsplash
