Cape Town - In the first weekend since President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a national state of disaster with stringent trading hours, several businesses and liquor establishments have noted a sharp decrease in sales and on the number of clientele visiting their stores.
In line with the Disaster Management Act of 2002, a restriction on the sale of alcohol was announced last week as well as a ban on gatherings of more than 100 people, forcing businesses to restructure or temporarily close.
These measures include: all on-consumption premises selling alcohol, including taverns, restaurants and clubs, must close with immediate effect or accommodate no more than 50 people at a time; and all premises selling alcohol should close between 6pm and 9am on weekdays and Saturdays, and from 1pm on Sundays and public holidays.
Tiger’s Milk manager Christian
Kalambaie said business was shaken up by the new restrictions. “Cape Town, especially the CBD, is mostly frequented by foreigners and tourists, so the impact was very heavy.”
Sneaker Cartel’s Radia Nicholson said their nightclub, which doubles as a sneakers store during the day, was temporarily closed due to the new regulations, hindering sales.
“I think that the nightclubs are feeling it a bit more because this is a club, we only open our doors at 9pm in the evening, so during the day we lose out completely.”
Bartender at Club Eighty Nine, Sredam Chandra, said: “There is no business. It’s empty and what we’re thinking about is rent, we have big rent to pay.We’re invested a lot of money in the business and now there’s no people here and no business.”
Traders at Greenmarket Square have also noted a drop in the numbers.
“Everything has collapsed, there is no life. There is no business... Now and then one tourist will come, but it’s like things have shut down. People are scared, people are fearful,” said Peter Mukendi.
Natalia Maketha said: “Business is down. The tourists are now even afraid of touching our things. We don’t even have hand sanitiser to give them because we don’t have money to buy it. Friday I made no money, Saturday, the same. I don’t know about today (Sunday). It’s very bad.”