Surviving bars in two minds about the ease on alcohol ban

Bar owners and restaurateurs in Hazyview expressed gratitude being allowed to resume alcohol sales, but some believe they should not have been put in this precarious position to begin with.

After President Cyril Rama-phosa’s speech earlier this month, the ban on alcohol sales was partially eased, and many bar owners, restaurateurs and liquor store owners breathed a sigh of relief. However, it will take months to recover the income lost due to the ban, and the industry feels that it has been punished unnecessarily.

“It will probably take about six months for our business to return to our regular level of earnings, if we don’t get hit by another wave,” said Raymond Steyn, owner of Jungle Café on the R40. “Although we are grateful for the opportunity to trade again, I feel we shouldn’t have been in this position in the first place.”

Many hospitality workers feel they are being punished for the government’s lack of proper planning.
“The reason for the ban on alcohol sales, in the first place, was to prevent a spike in hospital admissions,” said the owner of Topolino’s at Perry’s Bridge, Willem Fick. “Our industry was unfairly punished because the government was, and still is, unprepared for the spike in hospitalisations, and they still haven’t properly addressed that problem.”

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Liquor stores across the country traded at high volumes just after the ban was eased, but restaurants and bars did not enjoy the same influx of customers.
“People are still too scared to contract Covid-19, so they haven’t rushed to the restaurants yet,” Fick added. “What’s more, the culture of ‘dining out’ has almost died out since the beginning of lockdown, and it will take months for that culture to recover.”

A tavern owner near Belfast Trust, who wished to remain anonymous, told Hazyview Herald that he had continued to trade alcohol illegally during lockdown to keep food on the table.

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“I am happy that we can trade legally again, but I had to keep on trading during the ban or I would have lost everything. I am a good man, I’m not a criminal, but I was forced to be one because the government failed me. What else was I supposed to do?”

The hospitality industry calls on patrons and domestic travellers to please keep safe to avoid another wave of infections. “It’s impossible to do proper business planning when the future is this uncertain,” said Fick. “Let’s hope a few people don’t spoil it for everyone else. Livelihoods are at stake.”