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While President Ramaphosa spoke to the nation on Wednesday evening, announcing the long-awaited news that restaurants are to reopen for Sit-Down Service on an as yet unnamed date, a Tweet was sent out by the Government information service, announcing that the following is prohibited: ‘Consumption of Alcohol in restaurants, bars, shebeens, and taverns’ . This has caused a shitstorm in the restaurant industry, already struggling to make ends meet via Restaurant Food and Alcohol Delivery and Collection. Furthermore, a bar, tavern, and shebeen that does not serve alcohol is a farce, and cannot survive!
Randolf Jorberg, founder of the Hospitality Alliance, and owner of three Beerhouse outlets in Cape Town and Johannesburg, is not taking this lying down, his establishments serving predominantly 
beer, and food secondarily. He has written to Minister of Trade and Industry Ebrahim Patel, as follows:
‘Honourable Minister Patel, Kubayi-Ngubane and Ntshavheni,
Reopening our restaurants for sit-down was always our biggest priority and we were grateful for yesterday’s news. All of our new-found optimism disappeared, when this infographic was published on the Governments @GCISMedia Twitter account today and it’s been controversially discussed and shared since:
https://www.facebook.com/
If the government prohibits all consumption of alcohol in sit-down restaurants, most restaurants will not manage to break-even, adding further losses and permanent business closures! Liquor makes up between 30 – 60% of turnover for restaurants and is responsible for nearly all the profits. To be sustainable, restaurants need to be allowed to sell liquor Monday to Saturday till 11 pm. Our industry is amongst the most affected from Covid-19 and a wide alliance of TBCSA, Restaurant Collective, TTA and others worked so hard to create protocols for a safe reopening, but all this effort is useless if our turnover is further reduced by an inability to sell liquor on re-opening. Reading the comments of our patrons on social media groups, there is a huge number of customers confirming that they will stay away and rather continue to eat at home with a bottle of liquor bought in a bottle store if they are not allowed to consume liquor in our restaurants. This would only further strengthen the delivery duopoly of MrD and UberEats (that is charging up to 34% commission) and make our business impossible to survive.
Thanks for your support, please let me know how we can urgently appeal for changes to this devastating legislation regarding sit-down restaurant reopening!
Randolf Jorberg
P.S. I am the founder of the BEERHOUSE group and the Hospitality Alliance, SA’s biggest discussion group for hospitality leaders.
I first reached out to you in early April (copy of email below) about reopening for delivery and was the first to suggest on-con venues to deliver liquor off-con, which we were happy to see us being allowed to do. Delivery turnover has reached less than 20% of our previous turnovers and the limitation of liquor sales to Monday – Thursday till 5 pm rendered it pretty much useless, as all liquor sales for restaurants happen AFTER these times…
Randolf
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Head dreamer of BEERHOUSE
Long Street, Cape Town | Tygervalley, Cape Town | Time Square, Pretoria
cell: +27.79.7301010 | http://fb.
After Jorberg posted this communication on various Social Media platforms yesterday, restaurant diners have expressed their dismay at the Government for this nonsensical regulation, some expressing that they will be eating at home, ordering in restaurant food and enjoying it with their own bottle of wine. Restaurant owners responded by saying that they might as well remain closed. Some diners questioned the validity of the Tweet, it not being found on the official regulations website. But in the main it was stated that the Government had no clue about how restaurants operate, an Italian restaurant owner summing this up succinctly: ‘They don’t know what they’re doing… G-d help us …what a bunch… my hands are in the air’.
The Restaurant Association of South Africa has taken 24 hours after this Tweet appeared to communicate with its members, calling this ‘unconfirmed rumours’ without specifically referring to the Tweet! :
Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog: www.chrisvonulmenstein.com/blog Tel +27 082 55 11 323 Twitter:@Ulmenstein Facebook: Chris von Ulmenstein Instagram: @Chrissy_Ulmenstein
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