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By Marvin Charles 
1 hour ago
Cape Town – Prime Minister Alan Winde is facing backlash following his comments made in the Western Cape Legislature in support of lifting the alcohol ban.
Winde said, “We shouldn’t have a ban on alcohol or shutdowns that last a long time.”
Winde said: “I have great concern and the discussions we had with the Minister of Health, Zweli Mkhizi, about our wine estates. It is harvest time and it does not help when you try to bring in the new harvest and the old harvest is still in the vineyards, it has not been sold or bottled.
“First, there are huge financial implications for these companies. But for me, a big risk is that if we keep the harvest for too long, we have to throw it away and it will have exactly the opposite effect ”.
Winde was answering questions about Covid-19 in the provincial legislature on Thursday.
His comments came despite an assertion by the head of the provincial health department, Dr. Keith Cloete, that hospitals experienced a significant sustained decrease in alcohol-related trauma in emergency centers immediately after he was restored. the prohibition of alcohol.
Members of the opposition lashed out at the prime minister for his position on alcohol restrictions.
ANC leader in the legislature, Cameron Dugmore, said: “The prime minister is not listening to the advice of his department and evidence has shown that there has been a decrease in trauma-related cases. We are very disappointed and cannot undermine the blockade and regulations. “
Good Party general secretary Brett Herron said: “There is a constant trend in the Western Cape government that they have challenged everything related to national government and I am beginning to believe that they have orchestrated the challenge of the second wave. The prime minister is behaving irresponsibly. “
According to Cloete, 1247 cases of alcohol-related trauma were reported before alcohol prohibition and 615 after prohibition.
“We saw a significant sustained decrease in trauma presentations at emergency centers immediately after the alcohol ban was reinstated. Two weeks before alcohol prohibition, the average number of cases seen in five areas was 76%, two weeks after alcohol prohibition, that number dropped to 43%. The Boxing Day high of 157 dropped to 66 on New Year’s Day, ”he said.
The director of the Southern African Alcohol Policy Alliance in SA (SAAPA SA), Maurice Smithers, said:
“Restricting the sale of alcohol contains two factors: reducing burdens on hospitals and social gatherings.
“We believe that the restrictions are to mitigate the risk of a second deadlier wave. The government did not make this decision lightly ”.
Responding to the backlash, Winde said: “I have always supported jobs and supported the initial 14-day alcohol ban that helped our healthcare workers, but we have to look at the impact of this. The poor are getting poorer and rural women are affected by this blockade. I deny the accusations that I don’t care about saving lives. “
The province announced its own plans on Thursday to begin procuring vaccines, even though the national government firmly maintains it will be the sole buyer of the vaccine.
Winde said the province of acquiring its own vaccine was aimed at mitigating the risk.
“We support a single acquisition, but what happens if that acquisition fails? We have to be able to mitigate those risks. When Mkhizi announced the vaccine plan, I said thank you, but if I can make a few phone calls and make the vaccines available, I will be able to give them to the nation.
“We need to start getting our people back to work,” he said.
Cape argus
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