Constitutional Court hears challenge to Northern Cape liquor hours law
The DG Murray Trust asks the court to confirm that the 2024 law extending alcohol trading hours was passed without meaningful public participation.
On Tuesday, 10 November, the Constitutional Court heard a case over the Northern Cape Gambling and Liquor Act of 2024, which allowed bars and taverns to sell alcohol until 2am seven days a week, stores to sell liquor on Sundays, and nightclubs to sell until 6am from Monday to Saturday. The DG Murray Trust, a public health organisation, is asking the court to confirm that the provisions are invalid.
The Northern Cape High Court ruled in April that the provincial legislature failed in its constitutional duty to facilitate public involvement before passing the law, and declared the Act invalid. The trust is also asking the court to suspend that declaration for 24 months so the legislature can fix the defects, with a midnight closing time for on-consumption sales and no Sunday off-consumption sales in the meantime.
The trust also wants the court to find that the legislature had a duty to protect dignity, safety, health and children's rights when regulating alcohol. The high court declined to make that finding. Maurice Smithers of Working for an Alcohol-Safer South Africa said the World Health Organization lists decreasing availability, increasing cost and limiting advertising as critically necessary steps to reduce alcohol harm.
Why it mattersBars, taverns, nightclubs and liquor stores in the Northern Cape are directly affected, as the 2024 law set their trading hours and the court's ruling will determine whether those hours stand.