Lockdown curfew hitting Cape businesses hard
By Sisonke Mlamla
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Cape Town – The City has warned businesses are on the brink of collapse after losing trading hours every night because of the lockdown curfew, and have now called on the government to change the times, saying every trading hour is vital for businesses.
Economic opportunities and asset management Mayco member James Vos said he had written to the Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma to implore her to consider and lobby for the current curfew of 9pm to be lifted to 11pm.
Vos said he had been inundated with calls and correspondence from desperate businesses in hospitality, manufacturing, retail and the small, medium and micro enterprises across the business value chain, including the Cape Chamber of Commerce and the Federated Hospitality Association of SA, who, after just managing to survive the first round of lockdowns, were now facing closure due to having to close thei
John Mehner
There is no doubt that 2020 has been challenging for everyone. We wanted to find out more about how the business community has been doing here in southeast Missouri.
To do that, we spoke with John Mehner, he’s president and CEO of the Cape Chamber and host of “Let’s Talk Business” heard Mondays during Morning Edition on KRCU.
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No doubt 2020 has been a very challenging year. Let’s look at some interesting numbers and a few positive results.
First, some numbers. The Cape Chamber has distributed more than 21,000 masks to local businesses at no cost to them in an effort to protect their employees, the customers, and to keep them open. In our congressional district, 823 businesses were approved for a PPP loan of greater than $150,000. Our staff participated in over 600 hours of COVID-19 calls and connected with members in more than 750 direct calls. We launched two new websites with several local partners: Keep Cape Strong and Reclaim our Region. And we enhanced our shop local / support local business push.