With level 3 in place, the government has outlined that on-site consumption places for food will remain closed but people can now collect meals from restaurants.
Speaking on Lotus FM this week, Restaurant Association of South Africa chief executive, Wendy Alberts pleaded with the government to allow sit-in dining at 70% capacity in level 3 as massive job losses are "inevitable within the industry".
Alberts said their recommendation to the government for the full re-opening of restaurants had fallen on deaf ears.
As strict measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus continues, restaurants are still not seeing much light at the end of the tunnel. Picture: Supplied.
Also speaking on the Midday Report on Radio 702 with Clement Manyathela last month, she said the pressure at this point was critical to the industry and the repercussions of restaurants.
“We are seeing that we are getting deeper and deeper into debt and that is not good for the industry. I don't even think we have yet seen the damage happening in the restaurant industry that is still going to come as a wave of heat.
"We are going to see a whole transformation of the restaurant industry in the near future. Words like liquidation and closure of restaurants are imminent at this time. It's a conversation we have every single day with a number of restaurants,” said Alberts.
She added that when it comes to safety measures, restaurants had known for many years to have high self standards, and that they had several international partners who supported the restaurant industry in the execution of health and safety measures.