Members of the Restaurant Association of South Africa (Rasa) will embark on a peaceful march on Wednesday against the current lockdown regulations.
Restaurant owners are complaining that the regulations are making it almost impossible for eateries to break-even.
Under the lockdown regulations announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa, restaurants are able to open for sit down services with strict protocols in place. No alcohol may be sold or consumed on premises and are not allowed to open beyond 9pm.
Rasa CEO Wendy Alberts says, “Despite early communication with police, many members were not granted permission to embark on the demonstration. Initially, participating restaurants planned to line the street outside their premises with empty dining chairs and tables.”
Alberts says the Minister of Tourism Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane agreed to meet with the association and their partners, the Taverners Association and the Independent Liquor Association to receive their memorandum.
Albert says, “So despite the attitude of the SAPS, the minister of tourism promptly agreed straight after the letter we received from the SAPS, to meet with us to hand over our memorandum. We ideally would like President Ramaphosa to be available so we can meet with him so that proper directives can be given to the necessary cabinets, in order for us to resolve all these outstanding issues, because we certainly have had extensive results from the minister of tourism, but a lot of the decisions that have to take place fall outside of her jurisdiction. So, we would like for the minister of COGTA to join us as well.”
Lobbying for on-site alcohol consumption in restaurants continues
Rasa says almost 400 000 jobs may be lost in the sector if the current regulations are left in place.
Alberts says 69 restaurants have permanently closed their doors, while hundreds more say it is not financially viable for them to remain open with the curfew and alcohol ban in place.
“The news on Sunday night came to us as a complete surprise, a complete blow from the dark. It was a final nail in the coffin for many restaurants. They simply cannot keep their businesses open and it makes no financial sense to one, not be able to serve alcohol and have a restriction on our dining time.”
“I mean dinner time does not end at 8pm for us to be able to get staff home. So, there is no sustainability for restaurants to keep their doors open,” says Alberts.
Rasa says it is considering taking the legal route over the matter.
Alberts says they are putting together a lawsuit, to claim compensation because they cannot make use of their liquor licences.
Ramaphosa said the latest suspension of the sale and distribution of alcohol seeks to reduce the flow of trauma patients to hospitals during the COVID-19 peak.
