Ban on the sale of cooked hot meals gazetted

Government has gazetted a regulation banning the sale of hot cooked food during the Covid-19 lockdown. This comes after the legality of the prohibition was called into question last week and business group Sakeliga threatened to take legal action.

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In a statement on Monday, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said the amendment seeks to clarify the exclusion of hot cooked food from the classification of essential goods.

“Annexure B to the regulations is hereby amended by the substitution in Part A for item (i) of subparagraph (1) of the following item: any food product, including non-alcoholic beverages, but excluding cooked hot food,” said CoGTA.

Lockdown ban on the sale of hot food faces backlash

20 Apr 2020

This amendment was made in response to reports that some retailers have been selling hot cooked meals during the lockdown. During a press briefing last week, Dlamini-Zuma and Minister of Trade and Industry Ebrahim Patel indicated that this was incorrect.