A Camps Bay restaurant might face legal action after they posted on social media that they are open for business.
The Lawn Restaurant posted that they will be operating during the national lockdown to fight the Coronavirus after they had received their essential services certificate from government.
Situated in the City Bowl, the eatery set tongues wagging with their announcement that they would be selling cooked meals to take away, with people questioning how they received an essential services certificate.
The Lawns social media post
But it has been revealed that the application for essential services to apply to operate is automated.
A worker at the Department of Trade and Industry speaking under condition of anonymity says they had only 24 hours to develop the system.
“People abuse the system, supermarkets and shops that sell food fall under one category and restaurants take advantage of this by saying they provide food services,” he says.
The worker says they have revoked “hundreds” of certificates which were fraudulently obtained.
“When signing the form, a company acknowledges that legal action can be taken if they provide false information,” he adds.
The Lawn has since removed the social media posts and efforts to get comment from the owners were fruitless.
PERIOD: Min. Nhlabati-Mokota
A spokesperson for Tourism Minister Hlengiwe Nhlabati-Mokota said: “They know they are not supposed to operate and on our side, there is a directive that no one should operate during the lockdown period.”
The Department of TI announced on Twitter that they would be taking legal action against the restaurant.
They applied fraudulently, and the certificate has been revoked. @the_dti will be taking legal action against fraudulent applications.
— CIPC - the dti Group (@theCIPC) April 12, 2020
velani.ludidi@inl.co.za