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Cape Town – With more than 50 restaurants in Cape Town closing its doors for good, the war to save the industry and force the government to lift the alcohol ban has to reach the courts.
The restaurant’s owner, Liam Tomlin, said: “So far, this closure has led to more than 53 restaurants permanently closing their doors and others being in real trouble. What I can’t perceive is how the government expects us to do it with bottom tourism. “
Tomlin owns Chef Warehouse. Tomlin and 10 other restaurants submitted an urgent legal offer to lift the ban on the sale of alcohol, but was postponed until August 25 and 26.
According to them, the requirement to have 1.5 m among all consumers deserves to “exclude consumers who voluntarily sit at the same table, sharing.”
“The main explanation for the postponement is that the government is fighting with all its might. The court order of choice (in position of our main order, pointing to Regulation 44, is a ban on the sale of alcohol, illegal throughout the country), we are also seeking an order with a more limited effect, that is, claim it as such in the province of Western Cape,” he said.
Applicants include prominent chef and restaurateur Reuben Riffel.
Riffel told Cape Argus that the industry felt no one was listening. “We will have to be able to open without the restrictions of alcohol and curfew. We want to be able to begin rebuilding our businesses and, in many cases, our lives and those of our employees.
“It’s too late. Some restaurants are forced to break the law to pass and I don’t blame them. It’s attractive to see how this is handled temporarily but not illegal cigarette dealers,” he said.
In her documents in reaction to Chef Warehouse, the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, said restricting alcohol intake at the site is rational and legal.
“It is denied that dinner at the place to eat is so absurd and unpleasant that no one would really need to do it. It is assumed, as a fact, that all people who live in common places to eat consume alcohol or faint from alcohol, not food.
Wendy Alberts, executive director of the SA Restaurant Association (Rasa), said: “The government refuses to communicate with the personal sector. If they were worried, they would have listened to our concerns, but they didn’t take them seriously. President Already had to talk to us because national crisis regulations expire on August 15, there is no goodwill and they are arrogant.
Last month, restaurateurs across the country placed their tables and chairs on sidewalks and streets as they demonstrated with banners in a desperate plea for help from the industry’s 800,000 employees whose jobs are at stake.
This led the Minister of Tourism, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, to extend business hours until 10 p.m.
Kubayi-Ngubane spokesman Hlengiwe Mokoto said: “There has been normal interaction with various stakeholders to see how we can give new life to the sector. These interactions, which take place almost every week, have helped us gather information from all stakeholders on the most productive to reopen the industry and recovery in the future.
Meanwhile, two restaurants, the Addis Ethiopian Restaurant on Long Street and Batavia in Bo Kaap, have announced their closure.
“The prohibition of alcohol and the restoration of curfew will be the last nail in the coffin and will mean even more loss of tasks.”
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s acting spokesman Tyrone Seale said: “The Presidency remains involved in the economic effect of these regulations. We are closely following the progress of the pandemic so that the restrictions do not remain in place for long periods of time.” Time. “
Cape Argus
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