An organization called Liquor Trader Formations has requested a meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa to discuss the impact of the alcohol sale ban on the industry.
They are calling for the unbanning of liquor sales as a matter of urgency.
They also say that many people working in the liquor industry will lose their jobs.
The sale, transportation, and on-site consumption of alcohol are prohibited under Lockdown Level Three.
President Ramaphosa announced the ban on the sale and distribution of alcohol:
Liquor Trader Formations convener Lucky Ntimane says the ban on the sale of alcohol has a negative impact on the economy as well.
“We have reached out to the President with the view to securing the meeting to discuss in which we can kick-start the alcohol industry economy by allowing the sale of liquor to be able to save the livelihoods that are now facing certain financial ruin and poverty.”
“We further call on the President to consider lifting the ban on liquor and fully engage with the industry so that we can find a common ground and agree on conditions on the opening of selling of liquor can take place,” says Ntimane.
Liquor traders battling to make ends meet following latest alcohol ban:
Fake alcohol
Meanwhile, South Africans have been warned not to buy fake alcohol via the black market or to use hazardous chemicals in their home brews.
This comes in the wake of at least two deaths in Bloemfontein caused by drinking a homemade concoction that allegedly included methylated spirits, paraffin, disprin tablets and match sticks; and the seizure of fake alcohol at a Durban roadblock.
South African Liquor Brand Owners Association Chair Sibani Mngadi says “What we have noticed is that people do access pure alcohol, that is around 96 percent ABV and they neutralise it and fillup used bottles of branded products and sell them as genuine products to the public.”
The fake alcohol is produced on an industrial scale and sold on the black market. It’s not safe and can cause health problems.
Medical Practitioner Dr. Tiny Mhinga says, “These are highly concentrated alcohol; they’re not even monitored and you don’t even know what amount of actual alcohol is there. There’s methanol and there’s ethanol and some of these are very toxic to your body and the first thing that they are going to hit is, unfortunately, your liver.” Additional reporting
Shock as two women die after drinking homemade alcohol:
