Restaurant protests in Morningside cut short

PEACEFUL restaurant protests against restrictive government regulations were thwarted by Metro police on Florida Road.

The #JobsSaveLives protest is a nationwide movement started by business people in the food and beverage sector who want the government to lift some of its regulations.

Mike Holland, owner of Next Chapter restaurant on Florida Road, said the ban on alcohol sales and the 9pm curfew has devastated his business.

ALSO READ: Restaurants across South Africa to participate in peaceful protest

“Maybe another two months,” said Holland, when asked how long his business can survive in the current climate.

Although restaurants are allowed to operate under advanced Level 3, President Cyril Ramaphosa imposed a second country-wide alcohol ban on 12 July.

Ramaphosa said the lifting of the alcohol ban had led to more people getting into car accidents, violent crimes and increased patient numbers at hospital trauma units.

“There has been an element of our business that we have been able to salvage but it’s a very small proportion of what we used to and it won’t come anywhere close to recovering our costs,” said Holland.

Across the street from Holland, owners and staff at Butcher Boys also had their protest cut short by police.

A police officer who spoke to Berea Mail said the protest was illegal and had not been approved.

Bradley Hollis, part-owner of the Butcher Boys franchise said they decided to not open their doors while the liquor ban is still in effect.

ALSO READ: WATCH: Tourism industry across the country takes a stand against regulations

Hollis said alcohol is a huge part of their customer’s experience and that by opening their businesses it would lead to more losses.

“(They should) allow us to open to a normal time in the evenings and our customers to have a glass of wine and a beer with their dinner. It will be responsible drinking so if anyone gets out of hand, we will stop it,” said Hollis.

Hollis has two other franchises in uMhlanga and Hillcrest – he said they will be shutting down their Hillcrest store due to insurmountable losses.

Research done by the eThekwini Municipality in April predicted there could be 320 000 jobs lost in the Durban hospitality industry due to the lockdown.

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