25/10/2025
Good day to all the Mariners Family. It is with great regret and saddness to inform you that Mariners Restaurant will be closed for yet another December season and I am very doubtfull that it will even be open for the April season.
I have had my third proposal rejected and been told to wait until the next public tender bid is launched and advertised in the newspaper.
In my latest proposal I offered to fix and rebuild the ( their ) building, (pic attached )re-hire as many of the old staff as possible and introduce a BEE partner. The total cost of project was around R6 millon which I believe would have had a major impact of job creation and tourism in that area. Unfortunately the municipality doesn't see it that way and would rather see the building sit empty for another six months.
We employed 35 permanent staff and 30 casuals. Over the last two years those poor people have lost almost R5 million in wages, not to mention tips. Hardly any of them have managed to find jobs since the restaurant was closed.God knows how they are managing to survive😔😢The municipality have lost almost R1 million in rental income and are now stuck with a building that has no working sewerage system, a broken and leaking ASBESTOS roof, cracked and broken walls, and no legal electrical system.
This restuarant could have been open within 3 months of the wave hitting us if only the Municipality had issued a long term lease.
It is such a sad and sorry story but just a true reflection of the incompetance of the ANC led municipality to manage anything .
