Local restaurants have temporarily closed their doors due to ‘civil unrest’ especially in Durban and surrounding areas where riots and looting have intensified.
Roads in and out of the Durban CBD are no-go zones. Overnight looting and rioting has left shops empty and roads strewn with burnt out vehicles.
On Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that restaurants can now open for sit-ins. This comes after they had been prohibited from on-site dining for two weeks when the country went back to alert Level 4, to curb the spread of the Coronavirus. Restaurants were only allowed to do takeaways and deliveries.
As the president was addressing the country, unrest was happening in parts of the KZN, especially Umlazi.
This then forced malls, shopping centre's and restaurants to close doors for safety reasons. Some of these restaurants include South Africa’s most loved seafood restaurant Ocean Basket, and Italian restaurant, Lupa Osteria.
In an Instagram post, Ocean Basket in Umhlanga wrote that they will be closed until further notice.
"Unfortunately, due to the civil unrest we will close our doors today. Updates will be made should this change."
Lupa Osteria also announced that all its KwaZulu-Natal restaurants are closed until further notice.
"It is with great sadness that, due to current circumstances, all Lupa stores across KZN will be closed until further notice. We are priotising the safety of our customers and staff. Please keep an eye on our newsfeed for further updates. We can't wait to welcome you to your Rome away from home soon. Stay safe KZN," they wrote.
With the unrest also affecting some parts of Gauteng, Midrand-based restaurant, The Trea Garden took to Twitter to announce that they will not be reopening for operations during this time.
Dear all.
— The Trea Garden Restaurant (@TheTreaGarden) July 13, 2021
Trust you well.
To answer all the dms & queries since the Presidents address, please see below.
Keep safe ✨ pic.twitter.com/WtJlTCKBfo
"Due to the protests and unrest in the country, The Trea Garden will not be reopening for operations during this time. Please keep safe during these times. Most of our communication lines will also not be attended to, should you have any enquiries only email us", they wrote.