Urgent update: permitted personal care services

by Jacques van Wyk, Director; Andre van Heerden, Senior Associate; and Thabisa Yantolo, Candidate Attorney  

On 19 June 2020 the Minister for Small Business Development, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, published Directions on the protocols for the permitted personal care services (“Directions“). The purpose of the Directions is to “provide protocols to mitigate and manage the COVID-19 outbreak amongst employees and customers in the personal care services industry.” The Directions were effective from 19 June 2020.

The Directions regulate the following formal and informal subsectors in the personal care industry:

• hairdressing;
• barbering;
• nail and toe treatment;
• facial treatment and make-up;
• body massage; and
• tattooing and body piercing.

Some of the topics dealt with in the Directions include the following:

• the required Personal Protective Equipment (“PPE“);
• measures to implement social distancing;
• employees above the age of 60 or with co-morbidities are discouraged from working;
• maintenance of the work area;
• handwashing and sanitizing;
• access and booking; and
• the cleaning of the premises and equipment.

The Directions can be accessed at: https://www.gov.za/documents/disaster-management-act-directions-address-prevent-and-combat-spread-coronavirus-covid-3.