Most Cape businesses in favour of closing for Friday protest march

Nearly 62% of Cape businesses are in favour of closing down on Friday in protest against the sacking of former Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan‚ according to a survey conducted by the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

"The comments of our members make it clear that the number would have been even higher but for the many public holidays in April‚" the chamber's president Janine Myburgh said on Wednesday.

"We have the Easter weekend as well as Freedom Day in April and people tend to add a few days of their annual leave to these holidays so that makes April a very difficult month for business. Productivity suffers and I can understand that many firms simply cannot afford another paid holiday."

In response to the question‚ "Do you believe we have a leadership crisis in the country?" 99.21% of respondents said yes.

When asked‚ "Do you support the call for Jacob Zuma to resign?" 99.21% of respondents said yes.

Some of the respondents added apologies for not supporting the stayaway‚ pointing out that they had obligations to their customers.

The chamber said in a statement that others relished the opportunity to make a stand‚ with one businessman saying he was giving his staff a day of paid leave and he would buy them all KFC and Coke and they would march together.

- TMG Digital/BusinessLIVE