Pretoria-based guest farm, function venue and activity centre, Rosemary Hill, was permitted to reopen today (July 22) after the SA Police Service shut down the venue over the weekend, claiming that alleged unlawful activity was taking place because of the large number of cars in the parking lot.

Owner, Thomas Franken, who insists he was complying with all advanced level three regulations, told Tourism Update the weekend closure had cost him R120 000 in revenue – a bitter pill to swallow immediately after suffering months without income during the hard lockdown.

“On Sunday, SAPS arrived at the entrance to the farm and told us that we were acting unlawfully by hosting an even of more than 50 people, as there were a large number of cars in our parking lot. I advised them that no event was taking place and that the majority of the visitors to the farm were spread across 33km of hiking and mountain biking trails spanning 18 different properties in the area.

“I invited the officers in to inspect the property and to allow me to show them that we were fully compliant with all current regulations, from visitor temperature checking to correct spacing and sanitisation measures in our restaurant. The police refused to come inside and instead told me that if they found cars in the parking lot when they came back later that day I would be arrested,” said Franken.

“We have still not reopened our accommodation due to the regulations prohibiting leisure travel; our restaurant is running under capacity due to the spacing regulations; we still can’t host weddings due to the regulations around gatherings and we are also not permitted to sell alcohol. We have already had to begin the process of retrenching 40% of our staff due to lockdown regulations and we are unable to keep paying the remainder of our staff if the restaurant and trails remain closed,” he added.

Following the venue closure Franken posted videos on social media expressing his frustration about how the closure would inevitably force him to cut more jobs. His post was shared more than 800 times and reached an audience of over 100 000 people including attorneys who offered to assist him to reopen his venue. He also received a call from the Boschkop Police Station this week who advised him that correct procedure had not been followed over the weekend and that his venue would be permitted to reopen.

 “I was intimidated by the visit from the police and did not fully know what my rights were in dealing with the police at the time. I would encourage all venue owners to ensure that they have all regulations at hand in the event that they experience something similar. The facts are that there are no regulations in place governing the number of people that may make use of trails at a given time. Visitors exercising across 33km of trails can also hardly be considered a gathering. There are no restrictions that specifically limit a restaurant to a maximum of 50 people including staff – the regulations relate specifically to ensuring that tables are spaced more than 1.5 metres apart and therefore the maximum number of customers would differ from restaurant to restaurant,” explained Franken.

Coo of SATSA, Hannelie du Toit, told Tourism Update that tourism was a complex and interconnected industry encompassing facets of many overlapping regulations in its operations and, as such, desperately needed further clarity from the government on the nuances of the current regulations.

SATSA continues to call for the phased reopening of the tourism industry. “Our industry has put protocols in place that have been recognised by the World Travel and Tourism Council and ensure that we will be able to operate as one of the safest industries in the country.

“One has to ask what our industry has done wrong to receive treatment like this and why parking at an outdoor venue for hiking and cycling is considered more dangerous than visiting the crowded shopping centre parking lots,” said du Toit.