Questions over relaxed restrictions

WHILE the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday night of the further relaxation of restrictions on certain sectors of the economy has been welcomed by many, concern has been expressed about the practicality of the conditions imposed on the owners of especially smaller businesses.

The relaxation of restrictions will see sit-down restaurants, casinos and accredited accommodation opening soon to the public – under stringent conditions – after being closed for over 80 days since the lockdown was announced in March.

Personal care services, including salons and personal beauty services, will also be permitted to offer their services, while sports lovers will soon be able to play contactless games, with some contact sport to be allowed with defined restrictions.

Industries that will be allowed to reopen include restaurants for sit-down meals, accredited and licensed accommodation, except home-sharing accommodation like Airbnb, conferences and meetings for business purposes and in line with restrictions on public gatherings, cinemas and theatres, to be aligned to limitations on the gathering of people, casinos, personal care services, including hairdressers and beauty services, and non-contact sports such as golf, tennis, cricket and others.

However, these businesses need to adhere to strict safety requirements, which need to be put in place before they can reopen. Detailed measures and the date from which these activities will be permitted is expected to be announced in due course.

A Kimberley guest house owner, who had obtained a permit to accommodate workers providing essential services during the lockdown, said yesterday that there were already a lot of conditions that guest house owners were required to take in order to comply with the necessary safety requirements.

“These include taking the temperature of guests, keeping meticulous records, sanitising the rooms, etc. Up until now, we were also not able to serve meals to our guests.”

She added that while she welcomed the fact that guest houses would be able to resume operation, further clarity was required on whether the legislation would include the provision of accommodation for purposes other than work and whether intra-provincial travel will be permitted.

“Currently it is difficult to travel from one province to another. Even people travelling for work have stopped coming through to Kimberley because getting through the provincial borders can take a long time and it is just not worth their while.”

Another area of concern is the reopening of the Kimberley Airport.

“While people are allowed to attend conferences and meetings, they cannot get here as there are currently no flights to or from Kimberley. Travelling by car for business purposes is time consuming and many people are continuing to work remotely where possible while meetings are held electronically,” one city businessperson stated.

Others meanwhile have questioned the “logic” in the regulations.

“You can go to church or go out to eat, where it will be impossible to wear a mask, and even go to movies, but you cannot visit friends or family members and children cannot go to daycare,” a city resident stated.

“The lockdown caused severe harm to almost all economic sectors, and lifting it has resulted in a large number of health and safety regulations, which is also costing businesses lots of money. This is as many are still trying to recover from the financial losses they experienced during the hard lockdown when they were unable to conduct their businesses. It appears that the government is stumbling around, trying to find a workable solution to deal with the virus, and businesses and the citizens are the ones suffering.”

The DA’S interim leader, John Steenhuisen, has called on the government to scrap the lockdown altogether and instead focus on health and behavioural changes in society to stop the spread of Covid-19.

“It doesn’t make any sense, you can go to any restaurant and sit down for dinner but you can’t go to a museum or library, it doesn’t make any sense,” said Steenhuisen.

YOU CAN GO TO CHURCH OR GO OUT TO EAT, WHERE IT WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE TO WEAR A MASK, AND EVEN GO TO MOVIES, BUT YOU CANNOT VISIT FRIENDS OR FAMILY MEMBERS AND CHILDREN CANNOT GO TO DAYCARE