SA gym travesty

GARDEN ROUTE | HESSEQUA SPORT NEWS - Gyms in South Africa supply a vital need for a safe, crime-free place to exercise.

When exercising outside was allowed from 06:00 to 09:00 during lockdown level 4, people complained about the craziness of these hours, when it was winter, still dark until 07:00 or even later and also, in many parts of the country with a high crime rate, unsafe to exercise outside so early.

People could not go to their gym during that time, because gyms were closed under lockdown regulations.

South Africans are among the most obese in the world - another reason gyms are vital.

Inclusive and multi-racial
And, with the country's history of racism, gyms are places which are among the most inclusive and multi-racial - where inter-racial friendships and reconciliation can flourish. Also, better than pubs and taverns, they are a healthy, alcohol-free environment for socialising.

But despite the huge contributions South African gyms provide society, they have received scant regard from government during the lockdown. It is easier to maintain social distance in a gym than in a hair or beauty salon, let alone a taxi, yet these were allowed to reopen long before gyms.

The Mossel Bay Advertiser interviewed a local CEO of a chain of eight gyms, Sarel de Bruin. He lives in town, but the gyms in the company - Oxigim - span Gauteng, the Southern Cape and Western Cape, so he has his finger on the pulse of this business sector.

There is an Oxigim in Da Nova in Mossel Bay.

'Lost 80% of members'
De Bruin said: "We've lost 80% of our members. We're dependent on their monthly fees and we have a high outlay. Gyms are large buildings, such as 15 000 square metres. Compare this to a coffee shop and imagine the rent gyms pay. Also, part of the maths, is that Mossel Bay's gymming population is small compared to that of cities. All that rent and our aerobics studio is only used twice a day. There are not enough people to maximise the use of the space with more classes per day.

"Compare us with Tygervalley Virgin Active, in Cape Town, which has 15 000 members, for example. In the whole of Mossel Bay there are 1 000 people who gym. You work on a ratio of three to five percent of the population in terms of people who gym."

De Bruin said that in the first month of lockdown, after 27 March, 50% of his members stopped paying their monthly fee.

"Even though the gym had contracts with signatures, we couldn't ask them to pay."

The Oxigim group has been paying its staff every month. "We received no help. We did not get temporary employer relief scheme (TERS) payments from UIF, which other companies have managed to acquire. I had to use savings to keep staff on."

De Bruin said: "We did not even get feedback from UIF about the TERS. We got a bookkeeper to apply for us. Each time, the response was that it was 'processing'. It took hours to load our application. Then the response would be 'not found'. Every month we tried to apply, but this month we did not bother."

'Develop client base from scratch'
"People started exercising at home. They bought their own equipment. Now we have to develop our client base from scratch."

Since 15 August, when gyms were finally allowed to reopen, Oxigim has had a strict Covid-19 protocol in place involving sanitisation of equipment and the usual hand sanitisation, limited numbers of people, social distancing, temperature taking and mask wearing.

De Bruin points out that taxis are allowed to operate at 100 percent capacity with people sitting right next to one another, but not gyms.

"Government forbade us from opening, but gave us no compensation."

He said 160 gyms across the country got together to take the government to court, in a case which would likely cost R5 million, over the unfair treatment of gyms. De Bruin said that just before the court date, government said: "We are happy with the gym protocols, just give us 10 days so we can put them through Parliament."

But 10 days went by and then a month went by and nothing was done. After immense preparation and outlay, the gyms have dropped the case now that they have been allowed to reopen, De Bruin says.

However, he points out that major national gym chain Virgin Active, has not reopened. "If you have 15 000 members at one gym and the number allowed in the gym is 50 people, how do you decide who is coming in or not?"

Moved to different premises
Phillip Goodger, owner of Tiger Kai gym and mixed martial arts academy in Mossel Bay, which was based in Church Street, has moved his gym into the Oxigim building. He now uses part of the Oxigim premises.

Noting the rigours involved in sanitisation, Goodger mentions having to mop and sanitise in between sessions and fog the studio with disinfectant.

Classes are in limited numbers and people who wish to self-train can only do so from 16:30 to 17:30.

Martial Arts South Africa (MASA) monitors everything strictly, with reports having to be sent to it regularly.

Goodger says poignantly: "My wife Marulin and I mentor so many children in our martial arts academy. We have a heart for children. They look up to us. It's been a blessing that we could reopen and are able to remain open for business."

Noting the immense challenge, he points out that gyms were forced to close three weeks before the 27 March lockdown date. "We received a letter from the Sports Council, telling us we must close. It was a whole five months, being closed."

Husband and wife team: Sarel de Bruin, CEO, and Liezl de Bruin, financial director, of the Oxigim group.