There is another spike in bottle store break-ins in the Western Cape in the wake of the second ban on the sale of liquor.
Several bottle stores around Cape Town and on the Cape Flats have been vandalised and large amounts of alcohol stolen.
In the video below, Convenor of the Liquor Traders Association of South Africa, Lucky Ntimane reacts to the ban on the sale of alcohol.
During Level 4 of the lockdown, the break-ins even prompted a visit by Police Minister Bheki Cele to the Western Cape.
Cele then promised to tackle a wave of liquor looting in the Western Cape:
The DA has slammed the latest ban, saying it’s destroying the hospitality industry. The governing party in the province has threatened to challenge it in court.
DA Shadow Minister of Tourism, Manny de Freitas, says there is no correlation between alcohol and COVID-19. He says there are more urgent social ills that should be dealt with instead of alcohol.
Job losses in hospitality industry
The DA says at least 300 000 jobs have been lost in the hospitality industry and several restaurants have shut down. As the debacle around alcohol continues, the tobacco industry also took to the streets on Saturday.
Pro-smokers gathered outside parliament, under the watchful eye of the police, demanding the unbanning of tobacco products.
Protesters say their rights to smoke have been curtailed and they demand the immediate unbanning of tobacco products.
After presenting their petition to parliament, they continued their tobacco drive on two-wheelers.
On Friday, hundreds of restaurant owners, suppliers, service providers and workers also gathered in Parliament, demanding the lifting of the ban on liquor sale as well as the 21:00 curfew.
In the video below, the Orange Movement stage a protest against the ban on the sale of alcohol and tobacco.
