Further clarity required on accommodation for leisure and inter-provincial travel

Dear Cape Town

We welcome the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa last night of the further relaxation of restrictions on certain sectors of the economy such as personal care services, restaurants, accommodation, business conferences and meetings, and cinemas and theatres among others.

We are particularly pleased that more tourism businesses will be able to operate as a result of this announcement, however, further clarity is required on whether this includes accommodation for leisure purposes and especially, whether intra-provincial travel for leisure purposes will be permitted. If not, then these businesses will not get the flow of customers they need to survive the Covid-19 crisis.

These changes, that will allow for the opening of the tourism sector, are directly in line with the proposal I made to both the Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, and the Minister of Tourism, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane. (Read related statement)

The opening of the George Airport under Alert Level 3 is also critical for business travellers working in the Garden Route District, and we once again call on national government to urgently consider allowing it to resume operations. (Read related statement)

The tourism industry has already done a great deal of work to develop health and safety guidelines and protocols aimed at ‘de-risking’ the sector, and we will continue to engage actively with the sector to assist them to put these safety measures in place.

Yesterday, I announced the launch of our Covid-19 Business Safety Kits, 11 000 of which will be distributed to SMMEs and informal traders across the Western Cape. (Read related statement)

This is just one more way that we are working hard to support businesses, to save jobs and save the economy in the Western Cape during the Covid-19 crisis.

We also have a number of valuable resources for employers and employees to reduce the risk of Covid-19 in the workplace, which can be found on the Western Cape government’s Covid-19 website.

For us to ensure that businesses remain open and more people get back to work, it is important that everyone adhere to the critical safety measures to stop the spread of Covid-19 in the workplace.

We will all have to pull together, and we will all have to work together, in the coming days, and weeks, and months because, in the end, it is up to all of us to stop the spread of Covid-19 in the Western Cape.

Regards

David Maynier
Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities