Sona, mining indaba roll out good times for business

YACHTS, escorts, fine dining, strippers, Chardonnay and big tips.

The demands of delegates at the Mining Indaba and politicians at the state of the nation address have left Cape Town service providers smiling.

Teazers strip club said it was doing a roaring trade, while yacht charters are raking in up to R65 000 per cruise.

Budget Car Hire said business was up 19% from this time last year, while Tempest Car Hire ’ s Carlo Willemse said business was up 2% to 3% from last year.

Budget Car Hire ’ s regional manager Yvette Weinrich said there had been “astronomical growth in the Western Cape.

“I can ’ t say if it ’ s related to the Indaba or Sona, but we have experienced a 19% increase from last year.

“We ’ ve moved about 500 cars from other branches in Johannesburg, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape to meet demand,” she said.

Anita, from Cape Candy Girls escort agency, said there had been a “huge increase ” in business this week.

“There ’ s big money coming in. We wish events like this could hap- pen all the time. We even got requests from students, and 10 new ladies joined recently,” she said.

An escort from Gardens, near parliament, said it had been a good week. “I got a lot of enquiries, and even a regular customer coming back this year,” she said.

Teazers owner Gregory Fedele said business had increased, saying officials and delegates had been making use of the club.

“We are fully booked ” was the response from most five-star hotels around the city.

“Things are going smoothly with us hosting the mining delegates.

Craig Girdelstone, director at Waterfront Charters, said: “It ’ s always busy for the mining indaba. The private charters were booked out since last year already.

Trips range from R300 to R500 a head, with up to 140 people per trip for two to three hours,” he said.

Manager at the Cape Town International Convention Centre ’ s Marimba restaurant, Mads Dube, said mining delegates were enjoying the wine menu.

“’I ve sold about 80 bottles of wine in two days,” he said. The popular choices were sauvignon blanc, pinotage and chardonnay, with delegates tipping up to 50% on their bills.

Business has also been pumping at Shimmy Beach Club, said marketing manager Lisa Carey.