Restaurants across South Africa are calling for the government to urgently approve a call-and-collect operation for all sit-down restaurants when the country moves to level 3 lockdown restrictions.
On the front line in the battle to keep restaurant businesses alive is The Restaurant Collective, a lobby group that says the nationwide lockdown has nearly killed the restaurant industry.
At level 4 restaurants are able to do deliveries between 9am and 7pm, according to the alert levels specified by government. Restaurants are not supposed to open their doors again until the country reaches level 1 and takeaway or call-and-collect services are only supposed to be offered under level 2.
Many establishments have said operating on deliveries alone leave them at a loss due to high operation costs. To them deliveries are not a solid way to secure an income and keep their businesses afloat.
With no news from government yet, the future of restaurants, some of which who have been part of South Africa’s history for decades, is hanging in the balance.
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