The biggest-ever united protest in the history of South Africa’s restaurant industry is set to take place on Wednesday as hundreds of eateries, coffee shops and takeaway establishments countrywide will be participating in the ‘Million seats on the streets’ protest against Covid-19 restrictions to trade.
The Restaurant Association of South Africa (Rasa), which is leading the campaign, notified the South African Police Service (SAPS) of the planned protest in a letter sent to Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi via its lawyers Mooney Ford Attorneys on July 15.
Tables and chairs will be used to block roads outside various restaurants between 12 pm and 14 pm on Wednesday as part of the peaceful protest to highlight the massive impact of Covid-19 lockdown regulations on the industry.
The sector has pretty much been closed from the start of the hard lockdown in late March up to the end of May. Since June it has been operating at limited capacity, with lockdown restrictions not allowing for on-site consumption of alcohol.
According to Rasa, up to 70% of jobs may have already be lost in the industry, totalling some 800,000 people.
“Due to the continued disregard for the restaurant industry, my client [Rasa], its members, and various other restaurants, takeaway shops and coffee shops will be embarking on a nationwide peaceful demonstration,” Ashton Naidoo of Durban-based Mooney Ford Attorneys says in the letter to Mkhwanazi.
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