Amid fears of a new wave of Covid-19 infections and clusters of outbreaks emerging in bars and pubs, liquor manufacturers such as SAB and Heineken have stopped supplies to 44 Western Cape alcohol outlets.
It emerged earlier in October that almost 90 Covid-19 infections were linked to an event at a popular Cape Town bar during which it is believed basic health protocols such as mask wearing, social distancing and limiting the number of patrons to 50% of capacity were not observed. Some of those infected include matric pupils who might now have to wait until 2021 to write their final exams.
Even before that cluster outbreak, there were reports of outlets not adhering to social-distancing protocols, thereby putting the health and safety of their customers at risk.
This has also led to fears that the government could reintroduce stringent liquor regulations, further restricting trade in alcohol.
The liquor industry contributes 3% to SA’s GDP and directly employs 504,000 people.
Liquor sales were initially prohibited when the country went into lockdown late in March.
The first ban, which lasted about 10 weeks, cost the liquor industry about R18bn in lost revenue and led to the loss of more than 100,000 jobs. Similar losses were projected due to the second ban, which was reintroduced without notice. The ban was finally lifted in August, with conditions.
In some regions in the UK that are under “very high” Covid-19 alert, pubs and bars may not open unless they “operate as if they were a restaurant” and serve “substantial” meals. Alcohol can only be served as part of those meals, the BBC reported last week.
SA liquor industry spokesperson Sibani Mngadi said the sector has taken a firm stance on establishments that disregard lockdown regulations.
“If a trader fails to comply with the regulations and loses [its] licence, collectively we have agreed that we will stop servicing and supplying them,” he said.
Mngadi speaks on behalf of industry players including the National Liquor Traders Council, the SA Liquor Brand Owners Association, the Beer Association of SA, wine producers’ body Vinpro, the National Liquor Traders Council, retailers and manufacturers.
The alcohol industry has cancelled supplies to the 44 alcohol outlets in the Western Cape whose licences have been revoked by the provincial liquor authority for contravention of the Covid-19 and liquor trading regulations, Mngadi said.
“The alcohol industry has written to the owners of these outlets informing them of the decision to stop supplies until their licensing conditions have been changed by the Western Cape Liquor Authority.”
Asked whether the industry fears that the government could reintroduce more stringent measures on liquor trade, Mngadi said the industry has experienced the “devastating impact of the ban” on the value chain.
“It is now in each of our hands to put in place responsible practices and forms of behaviour to trade responsibly to ensure we protect the livelihoods of many thousands of people across the industry’s value chain,” he said.
He said the sector should be moving towards “normalisation of trade”, which was important for SA’s economic recovery.
“We still have off-consumption trade not allowed after 5pm and on weekends with major negative effects for the retail sector, including wine cellars who cannot sell on Saturdays.
“The national economic recovery plan calls out tourism as one of the areas of growth, and our wine regions play an important role in attracting both local and international tourism,” Mngadi said.
“For these tourists to taste our wines but not have an opportunity to purchase whatever quantities they want because it is a Saturday is not helpful to the effort to encourage tourism.”
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