President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Saturday, August 15 that the nation will move to Alert Level 2 from Tuesday, August 18.
Read: National travel allowed as lockdown levels eased
The hospitality and entertainment industry say they welcome the announcement, but are concerned that the night time curfew will hamper their ability to recover from the financial setback they experienced due to lockdown.
The entertainment industry welcomes the move to Level 2, but say the night time curfew is still hurting business.
‘We welcome the announcement by the President this evening that we can move to level two restrictions from midnight on Monday. To say we are delighted by this news would be an understatement,’ said Graham Wood, Sun International Group COO: Hospitality in a statement.
‘With interprovincial travel restrictions lifted our tourist hotels and resorts such as Sun City will finally be able to reopen. We will advise of Sun City’s re-opening date in due course.
‘It is unfortunate that the curfew could not be further relaxed, but we are grateful and relieved that our restaurants can again serve alcohol. But lifting the onerous ban on alcohol will boost footfall to our properties.
Our casinos have been operating since 1 July and customers have been very supportive, but the curfew has hurt our business by reducing operating hours at a time when numbers on the floor already had to be limited, so we are hopeful that this can be relaxed or lifted soon.
Our current health and safety protocols will remain in place, and all Sun International properties now bear the World Travel and Tourism Council’s (WTTC) safe stamp of approval, verifying that the COVID-19 health and safety protocols we have in place meet international benchmarks,’ the statement concludes.
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