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- Liquor associations have written to President Cyril Ramaphosa requesting that the Disaster Management Act regulations related to the sale of alcohol for outside consumption be removed.
- It has been argued that regulations on alcoholic beverages under Level 1 of the lockdown are affecting companies financially and have led to the loss of jobs in the industry.
- During Level 1 of the confinement, the sale of alcohol is allowed at points of sale for domestic consumption from Monday to Friday, from 09:00 to 17:00.
The National Liquor Merchants Council (NLTC) has written to President Cyril Ramaphosa, requesting that the Disaster Management Act regulations related to the sale of alcohol for off-site consumption be removed, citing financial losses and forced job cuts .
In a letter to the president dated October 23, the NLTC and the Liquor Dealers Association of South Africa (LTASA) requested that the sale of liquor for off-site consumption return to the trading days and hours prior to closing.
News24 previously reported that during Level 1 of the lockdown, the sale of alcohol was allowed at outlets for domestic consumption from Monday to Friday, between 09:00 and 17:00.
Outlets across the country that sell alcoholic beverages for home consumption may not do so on weekends.
READ | Alcohol sales relaxed below Tier 1, but bottle stores will remain closed on weekends
These regulations had affected municipal taverns, bottle shops, and independently owned liquor retailers throughout South Africa, according to the NLTC and LTASA.
Despite welcoming the passage to Level 1 of the lockdown, which caused the relaxation of regulations related to the sale of liquor, the council, in the letter, told Ramaphosa that the industry still faced a number of problems.
These problems included:
- Job security and the impact on employees as salespeople had been forced to cut staff or cut wages by almost 29% due to restrictions that forced companies to operate only five days a week;
- Landlords reportedly continued to insist on full rent despite the reduction in business days and hours that resulted in lost income;
- Due to the restriction on business days and hours, customers were forced to take time off from work to make purchases during their workday, which was “detrimental to our economy”;
- Current regulations led to a 45% reduction in the number of transactions and up to a 30% reduction in billing; Y
- These outlets also sold charcoal, snacks and cold drinks, which they are no longer able to do on weekends, leading to further financial losses.
NLTC and LTASA said the 34,500 taverns, 4,000 bottle stores and 1,400 retail stores they represented had been affected by the liquor regulations.
“Our companies are mainly black-owned and key to the creation of local employment and economic contribution to the economy of the municipality and the country in general,” the letter said.
“We are law-abiding liquor dealers, licensed to sell liquor products that are regulated and do not contain illicit and health-hazardous substances such as those sold by criminals. We make a very substantial contribution to our country’s tax revenue, including the corporate income tax, VAT, PAYE, UIF, SDL and special taxes, and they are part of a value-added chain with many other companies contracted for our members. “
NLTC and LTASA told Ramaphosa that current regulations, insofar as they related to alcohol, were not effective enough to combat the spread of Covid-19.
“For the reasons set out above, we respectfully urge our government to immediately remove disaster management regarding restrictions on off-site business days and hours.”
