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Drinking places are still closed
South African tavern and shebeen owners have asked the government to lift the ban on the sale of alcohol in seven days or risk collapsing the sector.
The alcohol industry has been asking the government to allow producers and merchants to sell alcohol, following the latest trade restriction the government imposed last month. The ban, which followed two other restrictions last year, came after South Africa was hit by a second wave of Covid-19 infections. The government said it had put in place a ban to keep hospital beds pandemic-ready and free from alcohol-related trauma.
But the industry has been critical of the government’s decision, saying it was putting jobs and livelihoods at risk and that there are better solutions to deal with infections, such as a tighter curfew and allowing off-site sales to take place. . He has also criticized the government for not consulting him on the ban.
“The decision of the president and his cabinet to institute a third ban on the sale of alcohol on 28 December 2020, further condemning the alcohol industry to 18 weeks of no-deal since the lockdown was implemented … has reduced liquor dealers to mere bystanders in the economy they have contributed significantly to for so many decades ”Said Lucky Ntimane, coordinator of Liquor Council of Traders.
Liquor dealers employ more than 282,000 people spread across taverns, bottle shops and independent liquor dealers, Ntimane said those jobs may be lost if the ban is not lifted within seven days.
“The situation is dire and requires urgent intervention at the level of the president to resolve, whose first step is to allow the sale of liquor to take place without delay,” he said.
In a letter sent to President Cyril Ramaphosa by liquor merchants, also on Monday, the group requested support from the Temporary Employee / Employer (Ters) Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) for merchants, financial assistance in the form of a R20,000 package and a moratorium on all liquor license fee renewals, including distribution licenses.
Ntimane said the group would do “whatever it takes” to ensure that the industry is reopened, should its request be ignored.
