Westville Cape House Café amazed by community support

A LOCAL Westville restaurant shut its doors on Sunday March 6, after a rate hike, continuous complaints from residents and an outstanding re-zoning application.

According to the Cape House Café owner, Indhresen Naidoo, when the restaurant first opened in January last year it drew a sizeable crowd.

“Our loyal customers have always commended us on our venue, the great food and the outstanding service they received. Being new to this industry, with no experience, I started this venture employing the best people I could find, consulting with a renowned chef to design our menu, and dealing with the best service providers that we could source,” said Naidoo.

Naidoo stated that his family is devastated with the closure, as this was a personal milestone for them.

“My family is devastated with the closure, as this was a personal milestone for us. Two of my children worked as waiters before they could go off to university.  My eldest daughter took ownership of the social media and brand marketing. My wife sacrificed many hours whilst I set up and had oversight of the business.  We have  invested a lot in this business, as I built the café from scratch.  Unfortunately, should the re-zoning not occur, then there will be no recovery in terms of time and money spent,” he said.

ALSO READ: Westville residents keep their community connected

Naidoo said he was amazed by the support of his local customers. He said that a regular customer, started a petition to keep the restaurant opened which has been signed by over 1000 loyal customers.

“My heartfelt thanks goes out to Karen Pape, who started this petition. We are so busy with our lives these days that we get so caught up – and yet over a thousand supporters have found the time to sign the petition, and even give their comments. 

“I have never experienced this in my life, and am truly amazed at this gesture. I thank the Westville Community and our patrons for that. My sincere gratitude goes to all my staff members who have been the key drivers in achieving this level of support,” he said.  

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At the time of going to press, the contents of this feature mirrored South Africa’s lockdown regulations.

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