Siseko Njobeni
15 May 2006
Johannesburg — ENTREPRENEUR Sakhumzi Maqhubela of Sakhumzi's Restaurant in Orlando West, Soweto, has not heard much about the grading of restaurants by the Tourism Grading Council of SA, but he would like to have his facility assessed
"It will give my restaurant more credibility, and my customers will have a guarantee of quality assurance," he says.
"I also think the grading will be beneficial to me personally. I came into this industry from the information technology sector. I appreciate someone telling me the areas I must improve on."
Maqhubela's restaurant, in Soweto's famous Vilakazi Street, is popular with international tourists because it is near to tourist attractions such as the Mandela Family Museum and the Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum.
On the importance of grading, Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk has this to say: "It is of absolutely no use to sort out problems of marketing, skills development and product diversity if the quality of our tourism experience is lacking."
The Tourism Grading Council of SA, the organisation responsible for the grading of all tourism facilities in the country, started grading restaurants last year, but admits that the response from restaurants has been slow.
Federated Hospitality Association of SA's Brett Dungan says it is the prerogative of individual restaurant owners to have their facilities graded, but the association is fully behind the objectives of the grading, which includes quality assurance.
Other areas of tourism, most notably accommodation facilities such as backpackers and youth hostels, have responded enthusiastically to the call for grading. About 70% of the country's accommodation facilities have been graded.
To encourage grading in this sector, government has gone to the extent of requiring its officials to use only graded facilities.
Council executive director Salifou Siddo says: "We are the first to admit that the response of the restaurant industry has not been as rapid as we had hoped."
He is optimistic, however, that recent workshops in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town will result in more restaurants seeking grading. "All the restaurant owners who attended the workshops wanted to be part of this process," he said.
Benefits for graded establishments include the ability to use the council's logo in their marketing materials and an endorsement by SA Tourism.
Government has set a target of grading 40% of the country's restaurants by the start of the 2010 Soccer World Cup. So far, only about 50 restaurants have sought grading, with almost 20 of them not meeting council's requirements and are having to go back to the drawing board.
Restaurants are assessed against parameters such as hygiene; compliance with government and safety regulations including public-liability insurance; smoking and fire regulations; and issues such as nondiscrimination against staff on the basis of race, gender, health or citizenship.
To obtain the highest grade of five stars, a restaurant needs to attain between 90% and 100% in its assessment.
Between 80% and 90% will receive four stars; between 70% and 80% three stars; between 60% and 70% two stars; and between 50% and 60% one star.
Siddo says the council is considering making the requirements less onerous to ensure that more restaurants came forward.
After obtaining a successful grading application, the restaurant is reviewed by an assessor and partner who eat at the facility to analyse the menu, wine list, food and service. The selection of the assessors and their qualifications for assessment has not yet been established.
Siddo says that the council lacks trained assessors to do the grading. It has 23 or so at the moment, which is not enough to grade an industry with thousands of establishments.
"We intend to identify and recruit more assessors to cover the restaurant industry. It is still early days, but I am confident that we will be able to meet the 40% target that government has set." More assessors will undergo training next month.
The council will also double its efforts to market the restaurant grading initiative, a move that is welcomed and supported by the Federated Hospitality Association of SA.
While it remains the decision of individual restaurants to be graded, Siddo is optimistic that the industry will eventually throw its weight behind the initiative.
Industry stalwart Brian Shalkoff, the manager of Gramadoelas restaurant in Newtown, Johannesburg, is excited about the grading. "It's a wonderful idea. It is also a good thing that the grading will look at hygiene as it is a major issue in this industry. We have international tourists coming to our restaurant, so they need that kind of assurance."
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