Wine producer representative Vinpro has been forced to postpone its bid to have the ban on wine sales in the Western Cape lifted.
Vinpro was meant to appear before the Western Cape High Court on Wednesday for a hearing on its interim interdict application to have the ban lifted.
However, the two judges who were meant to hear the application were not in a position not do so, since they have been appointed to hear Vinpro’s main hearing on its application to allow the premier of the Western Cape to be given the power to deviate from lockdown regulations and enable liquor sales in that province.
The main application has been set down for next month.
There are no other judges available and Vinpro’s legal team has turned to the office of the provincial judge president to arrange for a new judge and date.
South Africa is on an adjusted level 4 lockdown due to a sharp increase in Covid-19 cases amid a third wave. On 27 June, government imposed its fourth ban on alcohol sales since the Covid-19 pandemic hit South Africa in 2020 to keep hospital beds free of alcohol-related trauma cases and available for Covid-19 patients.
"We are extremely disappointed by this turn of events and are currently in urgent consultation with our legal team on the way forward," said Vinpro’s managing director, Rico Basson.