- The night life in Cape Town is expected to come alive again following the lifting of the booze ban by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
- Establishments say they are excited to be back in the game after a trying time financially.
- One local brewery, which tried its hand at making something a lot more sober, says it will work to save lives and jobs.
As the new eased lockdown measures come into effect, bars, taverns, restaurants and liquor stores are ready to welcome patrons.
In Cape Town, the night life is expected to come alive once again after the prohibition was lifted by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday night.
Woodstock Breweries owner Andre Viljoen said: "We are very excited to welcome our customers back. We know it's not been easy for many of them (customers) and that the economy is battered, but we hope that we can recover."
Viljoen and his team have been making soup since the early stages of the hard lockdown after they repurposed their brewery as a soup kitchen for the needy.
They prepare between 15 000 to 20 000 meals, six days a week.
"We have been making soup this whole time and we will continue to do that, and we will make beer and soup. We need to start saving jobs and save lives at the same time,” he said.
On Monday, Ramaphosa announced that the sale of alcohol may resume, as well as on-site and off-site consumption.
The liquor and restaurant industries had been lobbying for him to review the regulations.
South African Breweries had also announced its intentions to head to court to challenge government's liquor ban.
Beerhouse in Long Street owner Randolf Jorberg said: "We were extremely disappointed having to close for a second lockdown wave, but there was no point opening Beerhouse without beer. We are excited to reopen this Friday and to celebrate SA national beer day on Saturday. It's been an exhausting and devastating time financially."
But law enforcement will be keeping a close eye on activities in Long Street.
The City of Cape Town's Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security JP Smith said officers would be deployed to ensure that bars and taverns complied with the regulations.
Speaking to News24, Smith said: "We will be required to patrol and we will be ensuring that these establishments do not sell alcohol before and after closing time, because we understand the alcohol restriction was temporary, but it has the potential to reduce the number of trauma cases. Enforcement will start [immediately]."
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