The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria has dismissed AfriForum's urgent bid to challenge the national curfew as part of government's lockdown regulations for Covid-19.

Gauteng deputy Judge President Aubrey Ledwaba on Tuesday ruled there was no justification for the matter to be heard on an urgent basis and struck the matter off the roll.

"I agree that the curfew does have an impact on the income of nightclubs especially during the festive season.

However, I believe the question of the curfew is not solely directed to disempower the nightclubs financially. I don't see any reason why this issue has to be dealt with urgently and it needs to be properly ventilated. There are constitutional issues involved in this matter," Ledwaba said.

The application followed Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma's refusal to respond to AfriForum's demands to provide evidence on which the decision to institute the curfew was based.

The current curfew is midnight to 04:00.

AfriForum requested Dlamini-Zuma to provide in writing why there were curfews as well as supporting evidence that curfews were an effective precautionary measure against Covid-19.

It also wanted to be provided with the documents and supporting documents, expert reports, evidence and data which supported the decision to enact curfews.

It approached the court to have the implementation of national curfews ceased with immediate effect.

AfriForum's legal representative, Mark Oppenheimer, argued that the curfew had a detrimental impact on the hospitality industry.

"This sector is under further threat due to the travel ban and have to make up for the losses. "

The difficulty with this kind of measure is that the curfew may look reasonable for a period of time, but this period of time is different.

Over the festive season you have people visiting bars and restaurants and they are dependent on this particular time of year," he told the court.

The organisation argued the national curfew and the six months criminal sanction that could be imposed for violating the curfew, were irrational, illegal and unconstitutional and should be reviewed and set aside.

"There's an ongoing human rights violation involved in this," he said. Dlamini-Zuma's legal representative, advocate Hamilton Maenetje, argued there was no reason to approach the court on an urgent basis.

"This is a matter of significant constitutional importance and it has effects on the lives and health of South Africans. AfriForum had ample time to approach the court on this matter to ventilate these issues," he said.

Maenetje told the court the conditions regarding the pandemic were different compared to other Covid-19 waves.

"The premise of AfriForum's case does not exist. The urgency is not there because we are still faced with the phenomenal increase and scientists are still analysing the impact of this virus and the impact on the health system," he said.

Maenetje told the court the impact of the curfew had been reduced.

"The impact on businesses have already been reduced. And the economic hardships is over-exaggerated," he said.