cooked food lockdown

Image credit: Pixabay

Cooked food ban signed into law: Here’s what you can no longer purchase

We’ve got another head-scratcher here: The ban on cooked food has been made official, but Minister Dlamini-Zuma is facing an intense backlash.

cooked food lockdown

Image credit: Pixabay

Who knew five words had the potential to cause such a massive uproar? Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has signed into law the banning of hot cooked food in supermarkets, despite a massive national backlash. The move has also stumped the DA, who were planning to take legal action before this announcement.

How the cooked food law was ratified

Trade minister Ebrahim Patel announced over the weekend that cooked foods could not be sold in our shops during lockdown – this, despite having no legal precedent for the move. Both business and political figures were gearing up to take the Cabinet member to court – only for NDZ to add this term into the current regulations:

 “Any food product, including non -alcoholic beverages, but excluding cooked hot food“.

Cooked food – what can we no longer buy in South Africa?

The decision now puts South Africans who rely on the convenience of cooked food in an extremely difficult position. The blanket ban means the following items will not be available for purchase until at least next month:

  • Rotisserie and pre-prepared chickens.
  • Hot pies.
  • Freshly-baked bread will be removed from shelves.
  • The ban applies to anything you can get behind a hot food counter within a supermarket. Sausage rolls, cheese bites, and burgers-to-go also make the list.

DA demand written reasons for legal amendment

If the DA were upset before, you can consider them apoplectic now. Dean Macpherson – the shadow trade minister who was set to announce a legal case against the government this afternoon – has expressed his anger with Dlamini-Zuma, Patel and the rest of the ANC government. This is not the end of the road for Macpherson and his legal pursuit, however: He says the DA will announce their next move on Tuesday:

Dlamini-Zuma comes to the rescue for Patel’s legal problem, however the fight isn’t over. We’ll now request him to provide the rationality of this decision before deciding on the way forward. This Government is acting in an irrational manner and delegitimizing lockdown. Today’s amendment now makes what was illegal, legal.”

“It is mean-spirited, especially for frontline health care workers, members of the security services, essential service workers and transport workers like truck drivers who rely on cooked food due to the work they are doing. This will be particularly devastating for the elderly who may be unable to cook food due to their frailty.”

Dean Macpherson