Boksburg’s restaurant protesters hope government will hear their cry
Affected restaurant worker Refiloe Radebe, who has recently had a baby, said she can't afford to buy essential items for her newborn baby or pay rent
Appealing to the government to tone down the curfew and alcohol restrictions, restaurant staff at The Brazen Head in Parkrand took to the streets on July 22 to make their voices heard as part of the nationwide protest dubbed Million Seats on the Street.
The protest was organised by the Restaurant Association of SA (Rasa) with the aim of highlighting the hardships faced by the sector during lockdown. This comes after President Cyril Ramaphosa recently reinstated alcohol ban and the national curfew.
About 30 staff members, from The Brazen Head, placed tables and chairs in the road around midday outside the business premises, causing traffic to pile up. EMPD officers had to intervene by asking protesters to move the chairs and tables to the side of the road, allowing traffic to flow.
Wearing their work uniform, restaurant protesters didn’t back down as they continued chanting next to the side of the road while holding placards. Motorists persistently hooted while passing to show support and solidarity.
According to The Brazen Head general manager Matthew Pilkington, they have temporarily closed their doors because most of their generated income comes from the pub side. “We are allowed to sell food, but it’s going to be reckless trading because we know we will be running at a big loss because most of our customers drink alcohol. With our business being predominantly a pub, we were recently allowed to sell liquor and now we are not allowed to sell liquor at all. This has affected us badly because since the lockdown started we haven’t been trading.”
Pilkington said within The Brazen Head group, about 220 people are now without jobs. “Most of the staff are breadwinners. They have families to feed and now that they haven’t been receiving any income for the past four months, the situation is really intense. What makes the situation more devastating is that we don’t know when this will end.”
He highlighted that not all of their staff members have received their TERS/UIF payments. “We really need government to allow liquor sales when people eat in restaurants,” Pilkington said.
One of the affected staff members, a single mother of three children, Daisy Masolane, said life hasn’t been the same since lockdown started. “Everything I used to do for my children I now can’t because I don’t have money. Life is now a struggle as I now depend on assistance from friends and family. I hope government hears our desperate cries and relax these restrictions,” she said.
Another affected staff member, Refiloe Radebe, who has recently had a baby, said she can’t afford to buy essential items for her newborn baby or pay rent.
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