Local personal care and entertainment businesses gear up for their reopening
This comes after president Cyril Ramaphosa announced the reopening of various sectors on Thursday.
Local theatres, restaurants, casinos and salons have geared up their Covid-19 health and safety measures as the reopening of the business sector started this week.
This comes after president Cyril Ramaphosa announced the reopening of various sectors on Thursday.
Menlopark Brooklyn Theatre spokesperson Jean-Pierre Verster said he was excited for the reopening of businesses.
He said preparations for the health regulations were in place and they were waiting to get the final stipulations from the government.
“We take note of this positive move by the government.”
The entertainment industry has been among the sectors hit the hardest by the national lockdown. The sector has been closed for more than three months, during which many businesses found it hard to pay rent and salaries to keep things floating.
To try and survive under these difficult times, Verster said throughout the lockdown the theatre launched a new “television website”.
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“We launched a proudly South African streaming website of local and international theatre, thus creating more opportunities for artists to earn income,” he said.
“Patrons in lockdown could experience the theatre in their own homes. This exciting new initiative led to our gaining support from patrons from all over the world.”
Verster said the website would continue even though the theatre had reopened past the reopening because some people would still not leave their homes due to the virus.
“People who most support us are the elderly who are at a high risk should they contract the virus.
“The reopening would not mean an instant economic recovery – there will be a time of trial and error as businesses will learn to operate under Covid-19. Fumigation, sanitising and social distancing will result in fewer people in the theatre per show. It will cost us a fortune and might affect ticket prices and thus sales. We don’t know how this will go.”
Hair salons have also reopened at the weekend.
Local Ikon Hair salon owner Cheryl Wilkinson said the reopening felt like “reaching the shore after navigating through stormy waters”.
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“’It was so frustrating being prevented from earning a living but all is forgiven as we can begin working immediately as long as protocols are adhered to. And guess what? The requirements are very reasonable, no expensive extras needed,” she said.
“I’m in the fortunate position to be trading from a house, thus all staff still have their positions to return to and we can resume as if the past three months were a bad dystopian novel.
“I am very relieved that after the tireless efforts of the Employers Organisation for Hairdressing, Cosmetology and Beauty, the DA and advocate Carlo Viljoen, we have finally been heard and can now get back to what we do. This will bring back some normalcy to a very scary world.”
Pearl van Wyngaardt of Nudo Hair Lab said she was “extremely grateful” to be able to work again.
She said under the protocols, there will be hand sanitisers, masks, disposable gloves and aprons, Perspex divisions and allowing only a certain number of customers in at a time.
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During the lockdown, the salon tried to earn an income by running competitions, raffles and offering online hair classes.
The lockdown has changed how business was done, she said.
“We now have home visits for clients who are elderly or unable to travel, selling more products online, Zoom tutorials of how to do your hair yourself and home kits that would allow you to do so, using the correct products.”
She said their salon would reopen on Tuesday.
Green Olive restaurant owner Annette de Beer said the reopening was a “life saver”.
“We already had health and safety regulations in place in our kitchens as well as extra precautionary measures such as masks and sanitising. My outdoor cement tables are more than 3m apart and the garden has ample space for social distancing.
“My main concern is that we are not only a restaurant, but also a venue. We make most of our income from large groups and gatherings such as kitchen teas and birthdays, thus restrictions on gatherings might still be bad for my business.”
Local bed and breakfast accommodation LekkerSlaap marketing manager Gerriline Fouché believed the reopening was a step in the right direction to rebuild the local accommodation industry.
“We have seen a lot of damage to the local tourism industry. Some of our establishments might not be able to open their doors again, and many establishments will continue to struggle for the foreseeable future.”
She believed that accommodation facilities were ready to implement the necessary changes to ensure guests were safe and secure.
Time Square Casino was also excited about the reopening and said it would announce the reopening date on social media.
“We have put every measure in place to welcome people back and we will do everything required and more to keep them safe.”
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