Minister of Police Bheki Cele has taken a veiled swipe at the Western Cape for relaxing cigarettes rules during the nationwide lockdown, stating that o KY the central government had those powers in a state of disaster situation.
Cele said provincial governments must not formulate their own regulations as the national Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister (Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma) is the sole custodian of the regulations.
“These regulations are national regulations. There are no provincial or municipal regulations, so what is done in Limpopo, is also done in the Western Cape. We hear that some provinces will relax some regulations … they shouldn’t complain because police will not implement the so-called provincial regulations, they’ll stick to the national regulations,” charged Cele.
The Western Cape government – the only provincial administration not run by the ANC in Wednesday in a statement said cigarettes could be sold in the province during the 21-day lockdown period.
“We can now confirm that cigarettes may be sold during the lockdown – but only together with essential goods,” the Western Cape government said.
In a national disaster, Section 26 of the 2002 Disaster Management Act makes the national executive “primarily responsible” for co-ordinating measures for the mitigation, prevention and recovery and rehabilitation from disaster.
