The Democratic Alliance (DA) condemns the actions by the South African Police Service (SAPS) on restaurant industry protestors this morning in the Cape Town city centre.
The DA was present at the protest action today in support of the industry and witnessed the police’s senseless violence first hand.
Protesters gathered at Parliament to hand over a petition, as they are constitutionally allowed to do, and which we as Members of Parliament are constitutionally obliged to accept.
However, the SAPS decided to overreact and used water cannons to disperse peaceful protestors, consequently injuring a few. The force of the water cannons has also subsequently caused damage to private property.
The DA will, therefore, be laying criminal charges following this morning’s inexcusable actions on protestors.
We stand in solidarity with the restaurant industry and their right to have their voices heard in order to save their businesses and their livelihoods from the destruction of government’s ill-advised lockdown.
If government does not rescind the ban on alcohol sales and lift the 9pm curfew, these restaurants cannot operate. Many of them have already closed down, and thousands more face imminent closure if government doesn’t come to its senses and do away with regulations that have nothing to do with fighting the threat of Covid19.
The hospitality sector is a critical part of our country’s economy, and particularly here in the Western Cape. South Africa’s unique and exceptional food and drink is part of our identity, and a big reason for visitors choosing to come here. Killing off this crucial sector through regulations based on bad science, secret science or even no science at all would be nothing less than criminal.
And this sector does not operate in a vacuum. Up and downstream from the restaurants who were protesting today are countless other suppliers and service providers across many different industries who are all now facing financial ruin. For every one person you see working in a restaurant there are dozens more who work to supply fresh produce, equipment, crockery, laundry services, cleaning services, security and transport.
These are the hundreds of thousands of South Africans who stand to lose their livelihoods, putting the very survival of their families in jeopardy. And the truth is, there is nothing to gain from doing so.
If restaurants follow sensible protocols, they are no more dangerous than any other business or public transport that is currently allowed to operate. If they can allow for sufficient distancing of patrons, and if they achieve proper ventilation through open windows and doors, and air con systems that extract air rather and circulate it, then they should be allowed to trade as usual.
But this means lifting the curfew and allowing the sale of alcohol. There is no way that kitchen and waiting staff can return home after an evening dinner shift and do so by 9pm. There is also little hope of restaurants breaking even, let alone turning a profit, if they are not allowed to serve alcohol with meals.
Banning the sale of alcohol because a small minority of people abuse it is like banning cars from the road because some drivers are reckless. You wouldn’t do the latter, so why do the former?
It is incomprehensible that the ANC government under President Cyril Ramaphosa is steering us willingly towards this economic crisis. They have had so many opportunities to admit that their lockdown was an unmitigated disaster and make a u-turn, and yet they simply cannot muster the will to do so. With the hospitality sector on its knees, this is yet another such an opportunity. For once in your term of presidency, do the right thing by the people of South Africa, President Ramaphosa.
Regardless of Covid-19 and the national lockdown, basic democratic and constitutional rights must be protected, such as the right to peaceful protest.
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