Alcohol Ban: Now bottle stores, taverns plead in letter to Ramaphosa

South African liquor traders have called for a meeting with the president in light of the rising Covid-19 infections to ensure that the industry is included in discussions regarding a possible alcohol ban and trading restrictions during the third wave of the pandemic.
National Liquor Traders Council (NLTC) conveynor, Lucky Ntimane said the council and the Liquor Traders Association of South Africa (LTASA) had sent the joint letter to the president on Sunday 23 May.
In the letter penned amidst calls for another alcohol ban, the organisations called for a meeting with the president to discuss future trade restrictions saying that measures that were “less negative” on the economy should be used but if there was a future alcohol ban there should be a clear end date to the trading restrictions.
“ We are an organisation of liquor traders representing many township-based taverns and bottle stores throughout South Africa. We operate a combined 39,900 liquor outlets: taverns (34,500) and bottle stores (4,000) employing well over 282,000 workers,” Ntimane said in the letter.
“Our businesses are in the main black owned and key local employers and economic contributors to the township economy and the country at large. The tavern sector is worth over R60 billion annually accounting for 80 to 90% of liquor sales in townships, and approximately 43% of total alcohol sales,” he said. “We are law-abiding liquor traders, licensed to sell liquor products that are regulated, and which do not contain illicit substances or ingredients that may be unfit for human consumption, such as those sold by the illicit trade.”
Ntimane said the organisation aimed to canvass members’ proposals and make submissions to the government to address the “unique challenges” of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ntimane said in the letter that its purpose was to seek a meeting with the president to focus on the following issues:
*Find sustainable solutions and support government efforts to combat the pandemic in every way possible.
Call upon the President and his team to engage liquor traders, especially, where any decisions taken have a potential impact on our businesses.
Ensure that any decisions taken are guided by scientific evidence. “We have noted with concern the increase in COVID-19 related hospitalisations and positive tests across South Africa, which suggest that the country faces a third wave of the pandemic and that urgent action is necessary,” he said in the letter.
“There is no doubt that as a country, one of the most important lessons that we have learnt from our past experiences of dealing with the pandemic is that we can still fight COVID-19 with a less negative impact on our economy. In our case, liquor traders, can continue to operate, subject to fully complying with safe operating standards, in a way that was not always possible previously,” Ntimane said.
“Where restrictions in economic activity are required, these should be clearly explained with clear end dates. This allows businesses to plan, rather than facing an open-ended disruption which is significantly more difficult to manage and leads to far greater business distress and job losses. Setting clear end dates, or at least clear criteria upon which restrictions would be lifted – such as infection rates – is vital,” he said. He added that the organisations had worked closely with the liquor industry to drive maximum compliance with COVID-19 safety protocols among taverners and their patrons. “This includes hiring Community Policing Forum members to enhance safety in and around taverns and conduct inspections to check on compliance to COVID-19 protocols and liquor licence conditions. Tavern owners have also been educated on the importance of adhering to COVID-19 safety protocols and outlets that fail to remedy non-compliance are reported to the liquor authorities for further action to be taken,” Nitmane said,