Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) says the economic situation in the country is a cause for great concern, especially because government is announcing measures to tackle the coronavirus pandemic without consulting the necessary stakeholders.
On Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the ban on the sale of alcohol would be reinstated with immediate effect.
As the country experiences a sharp rise in the number of coronavirus infections and COVID-related fatalities, there were concerns that the resumption on the sale of alcohol led to an increase in hospital admissions.
In the audio below, the impact of alcohol on society during COVID-19:
The CEO of BLSA Busisiwe Mavuso, says the President’s ambush on businesses could have dire economic consequences.
“The President absolutely ambushed businesses on Sunday night. There was no consultation whatsoever when the alcohol industry has been trying for months, you know to actually engage with the DTIC to say that these are the set of interventions that we are proposing. We should actually be looking around ensuring that we have responsible alcohol usage in this country. All of that has actually been ignored. We are in a very critical time now, the industry that you have just suspended indefinitely employs about a million people in this country. It contributes about 10% of tax revenue and it supports about 300 000 township based businesses.”
In the audio below, Business Leadership SA says it supports Business for SA’s Economic Recovery strategy plan:
