In the final week of June 2020, the Department of Co-Operative Government and Traditional Affairs as well as the Department of Small Business Development issued new Directives in terms of the Disaster Management Act 57 of 2002. This article will canvass the content of these fresh Directives as South Africa moves into the fourth month of the nationwide lockdown under alert level 3.

Which businesses and services fall under the Personal Care and Service Industry?

The Directives published by the Department of Small Business Development were issued in order to assist certain categories of services under the Personal Care and Service Industry in re-entering the economy, specifically:

• Hairdressing
• Barbering
• Nail and Toe Treatment
• Facial Treatment and Make-Up
• Body Massage; and
• Tattooing and body piercing

The abovementioned categories have specifically been named in the Directives and therefore by implication any service not listed in the above-mentioned categories may still not be able to trade or resume operations. For example, waxing of bodily hair has specifically not been named and can surely not fall under any of the listed categories above. However, upon contacting Nail and Toe treatment as well as Body Massage treatment salons on whether they have opened up all their services completely inclusive of the waxing of any and all body parts, the treatment salons confirmed they are trading as per normal and as per pre lockdown circumstances and that they indeed are open for waxing of bodily parts. It is certainly quite interesting that such personal treatment has been opened under the circumstances where the nation is still under alert level 3, that Covid-19 positive cases are still rising, and deaths as a result of contracting the Covid-19 virus are still increasing.

What is more, and certainly contradictory about these new Directives is that it allows for Facial Treatment and Make-Up services specifically listed, but under the guidelines for Tattooing the Directives state clearly that no face and neck treatments are allowed in Tattoo parlors. This appears non-sensical given the fact that Facial Treatment and Make-Up has been cleared. Customers and Salon owners alike would be quite confused by these contradictory Directives as it is certainly non-sensical to allow facial treatment in one personal service area but not in another.

The Opening of Cinemas, Theaters, Casinos, Museums and Libraries

Outside of the Personal Care and Service Industry, the abovementioned recreational activities have been cleared and are able to resume business as long as they abide by the ‘limitation of 50 persons or less’ rule. What is interesting is that there has been no clarity or directive on whether family and friends are able to visit each other whilst surely abiding by the limitation of the no less than 50 persons rule, as well as social distancing, mask wearing and sanitizing of hands and surface or common areas, but recreational activities amongst strangers have been cleared as lawful.

What this article merely wishes to demonstrate, is that there are large gaps in the manner in which ensuring the limitation of the spread of the Covid-19 virus is executed. There appear to be inconsistences in the beauty and tattoo directives and overall contradictions in allowing 50 strangers to gather in an enclosed cinema or theatre but to still disallow the visitation of friends and family to each other’s homes.

Conclusion

The purpose of the directives in terms of opening up the economy has been widely accepted as good news particularly for those employed in these sectors, however the remaining questions surrounding the gaps in the implementation of the limitation of the spread of the Covid-19 virus in general need to be addressed so that the nation is clear on whether or not they can now visit their family members they have not physically seen in  more than three months, subject to physical distancing and health and safety measures of course.

Written by Fadia Arnold, Senior Associate, Schoeman Law