Ban on cooked hot meals gazetted

Government has gazetted a regulation banning the sale of hot cooked food during the COVID-19 lockdown.

In a statement on Monday, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said the amendment seeks to clarify the exclusion of hot cooked food from the classification of essential goods.

“Annexure B to the regulations is hereby amended by the substitution in Part A for item (i) of subparagraph (1) of the following item: any food product, including non-alcoholic beverages, but excluding cooked hot food.” said CoGTA.

This amendment came after it emerged that some retailers have been selling hot cooked meals during the lockdown.

During a press briefing last week, Dlamini-Zuma had indicated that this was incorrect.