JUSTICE MALALA: What does Ramaphosa want

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Sevruga ***½

Shop 4, Quay 5, Victoria Wharf, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town Tel: (021) 421-5134

National treasury *****
Excellent ****
Good ***
Poor **
Malusi Gigaba *
— FOOD FOR THOUGHT

It’s been more than a month since President Cyril Ramaphosa’s inspiring "Thuma Mina" speech, so let’s get down to brass tacks. Ramaphosa was on fire in February, calling on all of us to do something about the tourism industry, and waxing lyrical about how we could double the number of tourist arrivals on our shores if we put our shoulders to the wheel.

And we can. Sitting at Sevruga, at Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront last month, I saw something to marvel at. I was picking at my ostrich carpaccio when, lo and behold, at 10pm or thereabouts, 100 Germans entered the restaurant.

"What’s going on?" I asked the waiter. Was Julius Malema giving a speech?

"That’s nothing," said the man. "We sometimes get 200 of those."

Yes, dear reader, 200 hungry Germans all coming into a restaurant at dinnertime.

I tell you, if you’re seated and haven’t ordered, you’d think you’d better get going or you’ll be waiting for a very long time before you get served. Only, that isn’t what happens. My good man told me that "this is run like a military operation" and it hardly disturbs the normal run of the restaurant. The staff are prepared for it and make sure it works — and they do it virtually every evening.

I watched in astonishment as water was served, wine and beer were delivered and orders were taken — nonchalantly. Then, in no time, piping-hot plates of beef, fish, chicken, dim sum, sushi and all sorts of other dishes were plonked in front of eager diners. A hubbub of appreciation went up.

"See?" said my waiter as his colleagues marched in and out of the kitchen in very organised formations. "Military operation."

It was an impressive sight.

What does Ramaphosa want — tourists or Gigaba, a man who has been found to be a liar by the courts?
— Justice Malala

Ramaphosa is right. We could double the number of tourists we get in SA and the system could handle it. So what’s he doing to make that happen?

Last week I met 30 MBA students from the University of California. We had a nice chat about how great SA is, but then one of them — an Indian émigré now living in San Francisco — came over to me. His face was somber as he introduced himself.

"To come on this trip I had to fly from San Francisco to Los Angeles to get my visa processed by the SA consulate. After getting it I went home, waited, and finally flew to SA," said Anant. "If I wasn’t on a study trip I wouldn’t have bothered. Why should I make two trips? If I was going on holiday, I would have gone straight to some other destination."

How many other Anants have we turned away? These are people who could be eating at Sevruga or some other tourist place in SA.

Just the thought that we have Malusi Gigaba — the same guy who enforced the nonsensical visa restrictions — back at home affairs is incredible. What does Ramaphosa want — tourists, or a man who seems to work for the Guptas and has been found to be a liar by the courts? Or is Ramaphosa just playing around? Remove the barriers, I say.

I tucked into my ostrich carpaccio starter. Finely cut, fresh, slathered with olive oil — it was fantastic.

Sevruga’s large menu has starters of virtually every seafood you could wish for. Scallops? Oysters? Bring it on. For mains you could have meat (lamb or beef), loads of shellfish and dim sum, and finish it off with the fine desserts.

There is a lot going on with the menu at Sevruga, but the best thing about this place is the incredibly fast, attentive and efficient service — plus the fantastic views of the harbour. You can see why the tourists would love it.