Now that the government has lifted the ban on alcohol sales, the Southern African Agri Initiative's (Saai) intends to ask the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) to postpone indefinitely its application to have the ban on wine sales declared unlawful, rather than withdrawing it.
A News24 report notes the AfriForum-aligned Saai and their co-applicants, which included wine farms and other wine industry bodies, asked the High Court to declare unlawful, invalid and unconstitutional the regulations prohibiting the sale and transport of wine.
In a statement published on its website, Saai said before the new regulations, Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma's legal team, on Sunday, asked them to withdraw the case.
“Saai refused to have the case struck from the roll in view of the Minister's previous promulgation of regulations in contrast with the President's speeches. To Saai it was of cardinal importance to have the wording of the level two regulations studied by its legal team before making any decision,” it said.
Saai said in “light of the lifting of the draconian ban on wine sales” it intended postponing the application against Dlamini-Zuma indefinitely. A court order was expected by the end of the week.
[link url="https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/all-alcohol-equal-wine-court-case-on-ice-after-unbanning-of-liquor-sales-20200818"]Full News24 report[/link]