Yesterday I wrote about the Government keeping Restaurants in the dark, more than a week after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that Restaurants may reopen, on an unspecified date, assumed to be on 1 July, and with unannounced regulations to date.
The Restaurant Collective, a group of Restaurants which includes Ocean Basket, Tasha’s, Doppio Zero, and the Signature Collection, has shared Guidelines prepared by the Tourism Business Council of SA as to how to prepare restaurants for the reopening: Continue reading →
It is unbelievable that the Government is keeping Restaurants, Bars, Shebeens, and Taverns in the dark as to the reopening date, as well as the regulations which will determine under which conditions Restaurants may welcome back diners for Sit-Down Service, as announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa over a week ago. If restaurants are to reopen on 1 July, as is assumed, it gives them less than a week to set up after a three-month closure due to Lockdown Levels 5 and 4. 
As a writer following the Covid-19 pandemic and its rampant disastrous effect on Tourism and the Restaurant industries, I have been surprised to read an increasing number of articles predicting the opening up of our country to international tourism by September 2020, in a month that is Tourism Month, and traditionally the beginning of the South African summer and therefore Tourist season. The articles stem from a media release by the Tourism Business Council of South Africa, and appears confident in its prediction, based on its lobbying with Government, an interaction which was scheduled for yesterday 9 June. No outcome of this interaction has been seen yet. Earlier predictions were that the country would only reopen to international tourists in February 2021.