Lift alcohol ban or else, warn liquor traders
Tavern and shebeen owners have called for the government to lift the ban on the sale of alcohol in seven days or risk collapsing the sector.
‘The decision by the President and his Cabinet to institute a third ban on alcohol sales on the 28 December 2020, further condemning the alcohol industry to 18 weeks of non-trading since lockdown was implemented … has reduced liquor traders to being mere spectators in the economy they have contributed significantly to over so many decades,’ said Lucky Ntimane, convener of the Liquor Traders Council.
Liquor traders employ more than 282 000 people spread across taverns, bottle stores and independent liquor traders, and according to News24 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 a level of the President to resolve, the first step of which is allowing the sale of liquor to take hold without delay,’ he said.
In a letter sent to President Cyril Ramaphosa by the liquor traders yesterday, the group asked for Unemployed Insurance Fund Temporary Employee/Employer Relief support for the traders, financial relief in the form of a R20 000 package and a moratorium on all liquor licence fee renewals including distribution licences.
Ntimane warned the group would do ‘whatever it takes’ to ensure that the industry is reopened, should their plea be ignored.
The Western Cape Government is also pushing for the relaxation of lockdown restrictions, including the opening of beaches, the lifting of the ban on alcohol sales, and a review of the curfew.
The DA-led provincial government says, considering the evidence that the Western Cape has passed its peak and the demand on health services is stabilising, there needs to be an urgent reconsideration of the alert level three restrictions that are hurting the economy and resulting in almost daily business closures and jobs losses, reports BusinessLIVE.
‘Data from the tourism industry in December unsurprisingly reflect a sector that has been hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and the related lockdown restrictions, with almost all the top attractions in the Western Cape reflecting a more than 60% drop in visitors over the peak tourism season (December and January),’ Western Cape Finance & Economic Opportunities MEC David Maynier said.
The tourism industry, a major employment driver in the Western Cape, is one of the worst affected sectors after governments across the globe imposed tight movement regulations to curb the spread of Covid-19.
So, too, the alcohol industry.
The wine industry, which contributes about R38bn to SA’s fiscus and supports 350 000 jobs, is a mainstay of the Western Cape’s economy. The wider alcohol industry, which contributes 3% to GDP and supports roughly 1m jobs, shed 165 000 jobs due to the two prohibitions in 2020.
Already, the country’s largest brewer, SAB, has temporarily suspended the contracts of 550 workers due to the latest ban on liquor sales. Earlier in January, the brewer approached the Western Cape High Court to challenge the constitutionality of the prohibition.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
