Hairdressers, restaurants, casinos, and various other sectors will now be allowed to open.
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Wednesday that several business sectors will be allowed to open. These include restaurants for sit-down meals, accredited and licensed accommodation, conferences and meetings for business purposes, cinemas and theatres, casinos, personal care services, including hairdressers and beauty services and non-contact sport, such as golf, cricket, tennis and others, while contact sport will be allowed to train. The President said that, in total, these industries employed over 500,000 people before the lockdown, and that it was important to consider “these people and those who depend on them for their
livelihoods.”
“When I announced that the country would be moving to alert level 3 from the 1st of June, I said that we would be giving consideration to re-opening other sectors of the economy if the necessary safety precautions could be put in place and maintained,” said the President.
“Following further discussions with industry representatives on stringent prevention protocols, and after advice from scientists and consultation with Premiers, Cabinet has decided to ease restrictions on certain other economic activities.”
An article on Business Tech quotes Criminal law advocate Carlo Viljoen, who filed papers with the High Court in Cape Town in May, ordering the government to lift the ban on hairdressers and salons. It states that South Africa has 90,000 registered hairdressers and approximately 120,000 unregistered hairdressers. Meanwhile, the Sorbet Group, which has 220 salons across South Africa and employs approximately 3,500 people, will now also be allowed to operate.
