Govt urged to open fast-food outlets during lockdown
The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) is
calling for the
gradual opening of the economy.
SACCI CEO Alan Mukoki says government can start getting the economic wheels grinding again by opening fast-food drive-through outlets.
“So, when we look at the fast-food for instead, we already have a practice where you can go to Woolies, PicknPay, go to the garage to get your things. Now we are creating a situation around the fast-food outlets with an even better mitigation where we say open up the drive-throughs first.
“Because we need those people to go back to work. More than anything else, they employ more than 150 000 people. They contribute almost 20 to 25 % of the entire agri-business value chain,” says Mukoki.
He adds the organisation doesn’t want all the 150 000 fast-food outlets employees queuing for the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), if there is a way out.
“Because government doesn’t have sufficient money. The R40 billion UIF money, we will burn through that money if everyone makes that claim,” he says.