The national government has, for a second time, been interdicted by the high court from implementing new regulations to control measures for the humanitarian distribution of food for the hungry.

The Western Cape High Court on Tuesday interdicted Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu from implementing draft directions that would expand on measures required to distribute food under lockdown.

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"The latest regulations were published last Thursday and sought to set up a complicated system of planning and reporting that would need to be complied with by all NGOs and food relief charities before they operated soup kitchens or distributed food parcels," he said in a statement.

"She may believe her Department of Social Development is a super-efficient organisation that has plenty of spare capacity to start a process that will control all food distribution.

The first ruling effectively meant that the government could not prevent the distribution of food during the Covid-19 national lockdown, at least for a few more weeks pending another court date.