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By Sihle Mavuso 
May 8, 2020
Johannesburg – The government faces a new headache from the country’s largest brewer, South African Breweries (SAB), which wants to allow alcohol sales during Level 4 of the Covid-19 blockade.
In recent days, the brewery has been publicly pleading with the National Command Council that makes decisions during the shutdown to consider its request under strict rules, arguing that “the longer we cannot operate, the greater the ripple effect.”
The brewer says that the loss of R285 billion in revenue would be greater than the R229.7bn budget allocated to the health sector for 2020.
Hellen Ndlovu, director of public and regulatory policy for SAB, said they are in talks and hope the talks will yield positive results.
“We have presented our proposal to the National Command Council for alcohol to be sold under Closing Level 4, with conditions. We are involving them in the matter, and we hope to reach common ground on the matter sooner rather than later.
“We know from experience that any regulatory action that interferes with normal trade in the alcohol market will result in growth in illicit trade, so we were very concerned from the beginning when a ban was announced.”
Furthermore, South Africa has a fully functional illicit alcohol market that is ready to capitalize on any implemented ban. In addition to the impending negative impact on the market, the sales ban would also have a severe impact on our business, “said Ndlovu.
She defended her call saying that not only did they feel the pinch as a result of the ban. She counted, among others, farmers, wholesalers, and retailers of her products among those who suffer.
“Our entire supply chain has been affected by the alcohol ban. SAB’s value chain is powerful and incorporates a total of 3,739 suppliers, of which 1,345 are SMEs, supporting more than 140,000 jobs. In addition, our business obtains agricultural inputs from more than 1,277 farmers, of whom 757 are emerging farmers.
“The longer we cannot operate, the greater the domino effect will be. Our staggering 34,000 wholesalers and retailers buy our products, of which the vast majority are SMEs. We estimate that these wholesalers and retailers support at least 250,000 self-employment, many of whom are part-time, short-term or temporary workers, “said Ndlovu.
When asked what his proposed solution would be in case the ban was lifted and consumers crowded outlets, Ndlovu said one option was to allow online sales and limited business hours, which did not include sales on Sundays and holidays.
“The regulatory position taken with regard to alcohol in South Africa has definitely been at the extreme end of the spectrum compared to the blocking measures implemented by other countries (both on the continent and globally). Countries like Mexico, Brazil, p. They are also under closure, however off-premises alcohol sales are permitted. And people have adhered to the regulations with no problem. “
Pressure on the government to allow the sale of alcohol comes as it is expected today to submit response documents to an urgent court request from the Independent Fair Trade Tobacco Association (Fita), which wants the decision not to let Cigarette sales aside.
Like SAB, Fita is arguing in part that the ban on cigarette sales is forcing them to turn the sector over to the black market, and is financially crippling. While the spokesman for the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Lungi Mtshali, confirmed to Independent Media on Tuesday that they would oppose Fita’s request, the Presidency, who is cited as the first defendant, was silent when asked about the matter on Thursday. .
Political Bureau
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