Cape Town - Popular Green Point nightclub Cubana was issued with a written warning after City environmental health inspectors found it was in contravention of Covid-19 regulations.
The warning was issued when Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize, MEC Nomafrench Mbombo and City officials inspected city nightclubs on Friday night.
Mkhize visited the Garden Route and Cape Metro regions to see what health protocols have been put in place to address the increase in Covid-19 cases in the province.
Mkhize also visited Rands in Khayelitsha to check how the establishment was complying with regulations.
Patrons at the popular pub were diligently wearing masks during the minister’s visit, only lowering them to take a sip of their beverages and continue dancing.
Patron Thumeka Bongweni said: “We we have to be responsible, we want to enjoy the festive season with friends at our favourite places, so where we can we follow the rules and make sure Rands stays open.”
However, when the minister visited Cubana, they found that the levels of compliance were much lower. The City’s Zahid Badroodien said the warning was issued as there was not adequate social distancing inside or outside the establishment, few people were wearing masks and there was inadequate accessibility to hand sanitizer.
At Cubana in Green Point to encourage management to comply with regulations. #WCVisit04December pic.twitter.com/7Ere4Bbksl
— Dr Zweli Mkhize (@DrZweliMkhize) December 4, 2020
“We are not doing this to be difficult but to ensure that businesses adhere to regulations. We will be going back several times to check whether they have fixed the issues raised,” he said.
During a briefing to the Minister, the City’s head of Environmental Affairs, Bettie Leedo, said from July to October, more than 8 000 premises were inspected for compliance.
“There is still ongoing non-compliance and the level is relatively high in our informal sector, spaza shops, informal hair salons and the food sector. We have found it very difficult to enforce the regulations there,” she said.
Of the 8 216 premises inspected, 1 074 were found to be non-compliant. Legal action was taken against 488 and 30 were issued with closure notices.
Leedo said during their inspections, the high rates of compliance initially found decreased during the visits.
“We put together a monitoring plan and in term of non-compliance for Black Friday, we inspected 88 shopping centres and 85 of them complied.
“Some 445 retail outlets we inspected,” she said.
“The major issue we have is gaps in the legislation: the issue that there is no fine structure for persons not wearing masks in public areas is a real problem for us. We have observed our residents being very good when they enter shopping centres but not the minute they come out.”
Weekend Argus