Minister of Tourism, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane announced that Cabinet will extend the curfew to 10pm and that leisure travel is allowed. Inter-provincial leisure travel however is still not allowed. She made these announcements in a live media briefing on Facebook on Thursday [July 30] to discuss Alert Level 3 regulations.
‘Cabinet has agreed to move the curfew to 10PM to allow for uninterrupted dinner services at restaurants. We believe that this change will go a long way toward increasing their revenue generation,’ said Minister Kubayi-Ngubane.
— Stay Safe 🇿🇦 (@MatomeDikgale) July 30, 2020
‘Individuals will now be permitted to leave their homes for leisure purposes within the province where they currently live. It is only Intra-provincial travel not inter-provincial travel,’ she said.
Accommodation for leisure are allowed no more than 2 people per room, unless it is a nuclear family. This means for example, two parents with children. She stipulated that short-term home rental sharing remains closed.
“Individuals will now be permitted to leave their homes for leisure purposes within the province where they currently live. It is only Intra-provincial travel not inter-provincial travel” – Says Minister Kubayi-Ngubane.
— Stay Safe 🇿🇦 (@MatomeDikgale) July 30, 2020
For emphasis, “Individuals are still not permitted to travel between provinces for leisure purposes” – Minister Kubayi-Ngubane
— Stay Safe 🇿🇦 (@MatomeDikgale) July 30, 2020
She outlined the restrictions for tour guides and said: ‘Tour operators, in the new regulations, will be allowed to conduct Guided Tours in Open Safari Vehicles subject to directions and includes provision for both social distancing and maximum ventilation.’
“In supporting the tourism sector in this crisis period, @Tourism_gov_za redirected R200 million through the Tourism Relief Fund . Of the 7284 valid applications submitted, our resources could only assist 4 000 businesses in the tourism & hospitality sector” – Kubayi-Ngubane
— Stay Safe 🇿🇦 (@MatomeDikgale) July 30, 2020
“Allocation of funds was conducted in line with government policies and ensured that there was equitable share of the resources across all regions of the country, including rural areas and small towns/dorpies” – Kubayi-Ngubane#WeDoTourism #TourismStrong #SAWillTravelAgain
— Stay Safe 🇿🇦 (@MatomeDikgale) July 30, 2020
In a statement, Minister David Maynier of the Western Cape said: ‘We can, finally welcome the confirmation by the Minister of Tourism, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane that accommodation for leisure is open for travel within provinces under Alert Level 3.
‘What this means is that families who live in the province can now spend a weekend away at their favourite getaway spot and enjoy the best that the Western Cape has to offer, while doing so safely and responsibly. We also welcome the announcement that the curfew will start at 10pm to allow restaurants an uninterrupted dinner service.
‘We have repeatedly called for the opening of these sectors, who have already done a great deal of work to develop health and safety guidelines and protocols aimed at ‘de-risking’ the sector.
‘While these adjustments to the restrictions will certainly help to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the tourism and hospitality industry, they don’t go far enough, and so we will continue to engage with national government on this.
‘This finally brings to an end, months of flip-flopping that have caused immense financial damage and significant jobs losses that could have been avoided if a common-sense approach had been taken from the start.
‘We call on all people who can, to book a holiday or even just a night away to support the tourism and hospitality sector in the Western Cape.
‘We all need to contribute to economic recovery in the Western Cape – and supporting our accommodation sector, while visiting and supporting shops and restaurants in local towns at the same time has never been more important!’
Image credit: Instagram/ @pletttourism
