What impact has Covid had on the franchise sector's contribution to SA's GDP?

The sit-down restaurant industry is urging the government to reconsider its blanket ban on the industry outside of take-aways, which has its own business model challenges. The industry says the broad approach of the current adjusted Level 4 lockdown restrictions that lumps together sit-down restaurants, take-aways, bars, taverns and other eateries, reveals a simple lack of understanding of the operations of each sector and how to best serve and protect the people and the jobs in those sectors. While announcing the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the era of big corporates creating thousands of jobs had passed. There is a greater move to recognise the need to open opportunities to entrepreneurs. The President said while 98% of formal businesses are Small Medium to Micro Enterprises (SMMEs), they make up a far smaller contribution to employment and the country's GDP. To achieve the goal of the National Development Plan for SMMEs to create at least 90% of the targeted 11 million new jobs by 2030, the country needs to pay far closer attention to developing small businesses. Michael Avery is joined by
Mike Maree, serial entrepreneur and one of the co-founders of the Mugg and Bean Franchise;
Henk Botha, FNB's Industry Specialist: Restaurants
And Grace Harding, CEO of Ocean Basket and The Restaurant Collective spokesperson to talk about how the sector has held up and what needs to happen to grow it from here