Restaurants want Ramaphosa to address protest against booze ban
Restaurants across the country will host a peaceful protest against the ban on the sale of alcohol.
The Restaurant Association of South Africa (RASA) has invited President Cyril Ramaphosa to address the protest next week Wednesday.
“We are calling for a peaceful protest from 12 -2pm on Wednesday on the streets of the restaurants. We are appealing to President Cyril Ramaphosa to please come and address the restaurants.
“We need to have a conversation and engage with him. We need to look at a workable way forward between government and industry and we need to outline what hardship truly is,” says CEO Wendy Alberts.
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On Sunday, President Ramaphosa announced that the sale and distribution of alcohol will again be banned as part of the government’s measures to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Ramaphosa cited an increase of alcohol-related cases in trauma units as reason for the ban.
Alberts says restaurants across the country will now claim compensation from the Liquor Board for the time they were not able to use their liquor licenses.
“Every restaurant will be putting a claim against the liquor board for that refund, so it’s a substantial amount of money that the government will have to refund to industry.”