Durban - The city’s landmark Florida Road party street is back in business, but there’s still a long road to return to the buzz of pre-Covid times.
While there would have been three loud cheers when the level 2 lockdown regulations relaxed conditions for restaurant trading, including the selling of alcohol, the hospitality trade is still having to deal with restricted seating and the 10pm curfew as their two primary challenges.
Sofra Istanbul’s Zohra Teke said becoming Covid-19 compliant had added to the financial burden lockdown had already placed on the industry.
“The curfew is the major restriction and we don’t turn over tables quickly, so the limited number of diners also has an impact.
“I think it will be a year before we see recovery. The numbers we are seeing now cover the costs and repaying losses incurred during lockdown. For some, it means going even deeper into debt.
“We close our kitchen at 7pm. Florida Road was always the late-night destination and in the past, it would be 8.30pm before it started coming alive.”
She said the City needed to “come to the party” to help rejuvenate the industry, and particularly Florida Road, because it was a major tourism hot spot, and called on landlords to assist when it came to rents, saying she had been fortunate.
“A good landlord gives you the courage to continue during tough times. If you don’t have that, things can fall apart.”
She also bemoaned the blackouts, which kicked in at stage 4 this week.
“We don’t have a generator, but we do most of our food on gas and a charcoal grill. Just when we thought there was some light, we have load shedding.”
Butcher Block’s area manager Zane Ramnundlall said business had started to pick up with last weekend, a pay-day weekend, being busy.
“We are keeping all the necessary protocols such as restricted seating and social distancing in place. We have had some customers who have been difficult if they have had to wait for a table or have been asked to put their mask back on, but largely it has been good.
“We can seat up to 200, but, obviously, with restricted seating we are nowhere near that.
“We take our last orders at 9pm so our customers have a chance to get home before the curfew.”
Next Chapter restaurant manager Nathi Mahlangu said: “We feel blessed to have our customers back. We all know we are dealing with Covid-19 and we have reduced our tables for social distancing and take temperatures and sanitise when patrons arrive. We have been very strict on following the rules – we have to comply to keep our business open and we all have families at home.”
He added that their kitchen closed at 8.30pm so staff could leave by 9pm.
“I think our patrons are getting used to the earlier times.”
He also said they had a generator for the country’s blackouts.
Manager of popular pub, Dropkick Murphy’s, Sean Hammond, said they had to be strict on the number of people allowed.
“We are back open and people are getting used to the new normal, going out for about three to four hours.
“We are losing about 25% of trade, but we are not complaining, it’s business as usual in the new normal. We have no alcohol after 9.15pm as our staff have to get home.
“All my colleagues in the industry here in Durban have been quite strict, unlike places like Cape Town and Pretoria,” said Hammond, adding they had a generator to overcome the blackouts.
Duncan Heathfield, from the KZN Chapter of Hospitality, Entertainment, Leisure Industries of SA, said Durban’s restaurant owners had a meeting in uMhlanga on Thursday where the current challenges facing the industry under lockdown level 2 were discussed.
“We are sharing the same issues. The curfew is the major restriction and affects staff travelling home. There’s also still some concern by the public about going out, plus the fact that people have had restricted pay,” said Heathfield, explaining that pre-Covid the average spend per head (excluding alcohol) was between R160 and R180 for a meal.
“That has dropped to below R100 per head (excluding alcohol). Instead of ordering a fillet steak, a customer will order nachos.”
He said KwaZulu-Natal appeared to be leading from the front when it came to compliance with lockdown protocols and added that for many restaurants the blackouts were no longer a main issue.
“Restaurants were caught out with previous load shedding and have since put generators in place. At this time, load shedding can be an opportunity because people are going out to get food,” said Heathfield.
He urged restaurants to offer specials and keep active on their marketing.
He said they were “constantly in communication” with the national tourism minister on reigniting the tourism sector and were looking towards the year-end holiday season. He said the lack of international visitors had a major impact on the hospitality industry and the minister’s Reboot Tourism Programme encouraged local travel.
He also highlighted that because of the school holiday dates being changed, the peak holiday season in December would be limited to two-and-a-half weeks, instead of the normal five weeks.
“It’s going to be a challenge to get the same revenue as previous years but, on the positive front, Durban is well placed to provide some phenomenal deals at the moment. We have one of the best coastlines in the world and are a perfect destination for visitors from Gauteng,” said Heathfield.
The Independent on Saturday