Open local tourism and save jobs – protesters
Tourism Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane set to consult with President Cyril Ramaphosa and the national coronavirus command council on protesters' demands.
Tourism minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane is set to consult cabinet on the industry’s lockdown regulations following a nationwide protest by the hospitality and tourism businesses on Friday.
Addressing the media in Parkhurst, Johannesburg on Friday, Kubayi-Ngubane said she would table the tourism and hospitality businesses’ grievances to the minister responsible for the drafting of regulations Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and President Cyril Ramaphosa and the national coronavirus command council.
“We do understand to a certain extent the issues that have been raised by the sector,” she said.
Kubayi-Ngubani said the department has continued to draft health and safety protocols for businesses falling under its ambit.
“This will ensure that when we open international borders, tourists can be sure they are safe. The delicacy in balancing the protection of lives and livelihoods remains important.
‘I do not think we should disappear and lose hope, I believe the sector will bounce back to a better environment.”
The #ServeUsPlease movement led a protest in several parts of the country including, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Johannesburg and in Pretoria on Friday morning, against the stringent regulation against opening for trade.
A few Pretoria hospitality and tourism businesses again took their grievances to the streets in a nationwide protest to highlight the economic ripple-effect Covid-19 regulations had on the industry.
This was in response to government’s Covid-19 restrictions on the hospitality, tourism, food and alcohol, entertainment, media and affiliated industries.
Although the outcome in Pretoria was not as much as in other metros in the country, the few that came out believed the demonstration was still important.
Nicolette Ungerer from EZShuttle services company said the tourism industry restrictions were not only “harming” one industry but directly affected several businesses such as shuttle services, food industry, small business suppliers to the accommodations that benefited as a result of the nature of chain benefit of the industry.
“In our business we already have 30% of the staff retrenched and with a little rendering of services the management is looking at the 70% of staff that are laid off to be retrenched. This is our cry to government that people are really in a tough corner and we do not want businesses to close down which will lead to many families suffering,” she said.
“As a shuttle business, we went from 600-700 trips a day to just about 6-7 trips. The business is taking a huge knock. Of course, there must be regulations and companies must ensure the safety of customers which in our part we have followed, we are asking for leisure travel to be allowed.”
She said some lounges and hotels had put in place health and safety measures a month ago.
“We have also worked hard to ensure health and safety measures are in place. For example, in a 15 seater Quantum (minibus) we will continue with seven people for social distancing,” she said.
Human resource administrator Felicia Senwamadi, who is tasked with the job to bear the news to retrenched workers, said over the past few months her job had become difficult.
“Telling employees that they have been retrenched is truly heartbreaking. While others call in constantly asking when they are getting back to work is hard. People are hardly surviving with the UIF money… for most, it does not cover their expenses.”
Panstrat Solutions software company owner Francois Bezuidenhout said his business was taking a knock as the lounges and hotels were no longer getting any reservations.
“I’m one of the people who are experiencing troubles as hotels and lounges have not had much business. I usually assist the businesses with software technical support but with no bookings, there is no business for me. We are really appealing to the government to consider leisure travel for the survival of these business and many like mine that rely on them,” he said.
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