The Restaurant Association of South Africa (RASA) is still pleading with government to allow sit-down clients at recognised establishments that follow strict measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
RASA says massive job losses are inevitable within the industry since sit-in dining remains prohibited under alert Level 3 of the national lockdown.
The association says over 13 000 establishments nationally opened their doors earlier this week for deliveries and collections only.
RASA CEO Wendy Alberts says their recommendation to the government for the re-opening of restaurants has not been looked at fairly.
Alberts says, “We again have to adapt our businesses into a model that we are not experts at. The biggest concern is that all the transformation that we are doing with the current business model, does not allow for our staff to come back to work and this is very concerning as we have a rough estimate of around 800 000 people working in the industry and we probably brought only 20% of these people back to our beautiful businesses.”
In the video below RASA requests allowance to seat and serve customers in Level 3 lockdown:
What to expect under Level 3 lockdown
President Cyril Ramaphosa said all economic activity will be permitted under Level 3 lockdown with a few exceptions.
