Mr. President, it’s time to end the alcohol ban with immediate effect

The Democratic Alliance (DA) calls on President Cyril Ramaphosa and his government to end the economically crippling alcohol ban with immediate effect.

After today’s announcement by South African Breweries (SAB) that they have cancelled another investment of R2.5 billion along with their earlier cancelled investment of R2.5 billion, all being a direct result of the ban on alcohol sales, it is abundantly clear that this ill-thought ban is having devastating economic consequences for South Africa.

So far it is estimated that 165 000 people have lost their jobs due to successive alcohol bans.

In a country that has record unemployment, it is unthinkable that we are forcing people not to work because the government failed in every respect to use the initial lockdown in March 2020 to build extra hospital capacity.

South Africans are paying with their lives and their jobs because President Ramaphosa and his Ministers have not done what they promised us they would do.

For how much longer do wine farmers, craft gin and beer brewers, restaurants and so many other people and industries that rely on the alcohol industry have to suffer because of this governments incompetencies? To make matters even worse, there is zero financial support for these businesses because government choses to bail out Eskom and SAA over our businesses.

The time has come for President Ramaphosa to show leadership over this unfolding economic crisis, solely created by him.

South Africa has already lost billions of Rands in revenue during the last two alcohol bans which contributes to funding hospitals, nurses and doctors. Surely we can’t afford to starve out country of any more revenue?

Liquor legislation has been sitting with the  President Ramaphosa and Parliament for the last 6 years. The DA has made progressive and sensible comments and proposed workable solutions to combat alcohol abuse directly to the Department of Trade and Industry, however, the Cabinet and the President are found wanting when it comes to expediting this legislation. Their concerns of the harms of liquor ring hallow when the facts from Parliament paint a different story.

It’s time to end the ban, get MPs back to work to finalise liquor legislation and to increase hospital capacity as we have been promised. Anything short of this by President Ramaphosa and the Government will continue to cost people their lives and livelihoods.

Issued by Dean Macpherson, DA Shadow Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, 15 January 2021