The Restaurants Association of South Africa (Rasa) said it has been expecting the move to lockdown alert Level one for long now.
Wendy Alberts, the association’s CEO said the debt suffered by the industry will not be paid anytime soon.
“We are not out the dark yet, we are never going to make up the losses over the last six months, and we are certainly trying hard to look at a debt amnesty programme,” said Alberts.
Starting from Monday, restaurants will have the liberty to operate at 50% capacity.
President Cyril Ramaphosa made the announcement that South Africa is ready to move to Level one of the lockdown.
Cabinet made the decision on Wednesday that the country can now move to alert Level one, starting from midnight of Sunday, 20 September 2020.
“This move recognises that levels of infection are relatively low and that there is sufficient capacity in our health system to manage the current need,” Ramaphosa said.
