The Tebeila Institute of Leadership Education Governance and Training (TILEGT) and the African Institute for Human Rights and Constitutional Litigation (AIHRCL) have demanded that the Government of South Africa grant an exemption that allows baby shops open during the Covid-19 lockdown. The organisations observed that babies born during the lockdown or just before the lockdown may be left without clothes to keep their bodies warm if baby shops are shut. They said that newborns without clothes are at greater risk of contracting Covid-19 and of being exposed to the cold.

The two organisation filed a case against the government at the Constitutional Court over the closure of baby shops. They said that they had been approached by pregnant women and mothers of newborns who raised concerns about being able to buy clothes for their babies during the lockdown.

The government, in a letter, stated that it amended disaster regulations so that the list of essential goods includes products for the care of babies and toddlers. However, TILEGT and AIHRCL said that the amendment by itself does not solve the problem of mothers being unable to buy clothes for their newborns. The organisations proposed that the president make a public announcement on the exemption of baby shops.

Source: Mail and Guardian

Photo source: Dusha Hanuska