The DA has called on the government to extend the Unemployment Insurance Fund's Covid-19 Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme (Ters) for the duration of lockdown alert level 4 to support the hospitality industry and its employees.

This after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Sunday that SA will move to a higher lockdown level due to a surge in Covid-19 cases.

Ramaphosa announced a two-week ban on the sale of alcohol for on-site and off-site consumption. Restaurants are closed for sit-ins and are only allowed to open for deliveries and takeaways, said Ramaphosa. 

“The Covid-19 Ters scheme came to an end in March, but the lockdown did not. For as long as the government prevents people from participating in the economy, it has a duty to mitigate the devastating economic impact with financial assistance,” the DA said on Monday.

Western Cape MEC of finance and economic opportunities David Maynier wrote a letter to employment and labour minister Thulas Nxesi saying businesses should not be expected to operate without any financial assistance.

“With this most recent announcement, I would urge you to reinstate the UIF Covid-19 Ters support to qualifying businesses and employees in those sectors which are prevented from full operations for the duration of time that the additional restrictions apply.

“It is simply not fair to expect these businesses to continue with limited operations or even close without the necessary financial support to ensure they remain operational and can retain their staff during the alert level 4 restrictions,” said Maynier. 

Ramaphosa said the current restrictions will be reassessed after a two-week period.