Nightclubs take govt to court again

Tomorrow, Justice Key Dingake of the High Court is scheduled to hear an application from the nightclub owners who are seeking an order that the new liquor regulations should be declared discriminatory, ultra vires and to be set aside. The plaintiffs are the Shebeen, Ozone, Satchmos (all from Gaborone) and the Maun-based Trekkers.

The clubs argue that the regulations do not affect other establishments like hotels, which are selling liquor. They say that by reducing the trading hours, the new regulations infringe upon the existing rights that have been conferred on them by the Trade and Liquor Act of 1986. They want the court to order the Ministry of Trade and Industry to issue them with the nightclub licences they applied for. They also want the continued disruption of their businesses by the police to be declared unlawful.