SA Breweries (SAB) is poised to fight the prohibition on alcohol sales in court as a last-ditch effort to protect the industry.
On Wednesday afternoon, the company, which manufactures some of the most prominent SA alcohol brands, said in a statement it would challenge the constitutionality of the blanket ban on alcohol sales, which was reintroduced late in December in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Alcohol sales were banned for months during the earlier part of SA's lockdown, but restrictions were lifted as the first wave of the pandemic passed. SA is however in the midst of a second wave of the pandemic, and the ban was reintroduced in a bid to alleviate pressure on SA’s hospitals.
“After much consideration, SAB has decided to approach the courts to challenge the constitutionality of the decision taken and process followed by the national coronavirus command council (NCCC) to re-ban the sale of alcohol,” the brewery said.
SAB said the legal action was the last resort available to it to protect its employees, suppliers, customers, consumers and all the livelihoods the brewery supports.
SAB was among a spate of companies that in 2020 either delayed or cancelled billions of rand in investment, citing uncertainty caused by the government’s ban on the sale of alcohol, a blow for President Cyril Ramaphosa, who made attracting foreign investment a central pillar of his economic strategy.
The AB InBev unit said in August that it was withdrawing R2.5bn of planned infrastructure upgrades for that financial year, while a planned investment of a similar amount for the next year has been placed under review.
At the time glass manufacturer Consol said it was suspending the construction of a R1.5bn production plant. Heineken, Europe’s largest beer company, stopped work on a R6bn brewery.
According to SAB, it had made representations to the government on December 28 to consider several alternatives rather than imposing an outright nationwide ban on all formal sales of alcohol, which included restrictions on trade channels, instead of merely an outright ban.
“SAB believes that any ban, including the current one, goes far beyond what is reasonable and necessary to contain the spread of the virus, and unlawfully restricts various rights that are enshrined and protected by our constitution. These include the right to freedom of trade, the right to human dignity, privacy and the right to bodily and psychological integrity,” it said.
The company said the previous two bans on alcohol sales resulted in many unintended consequences, including the loss of more than 165,000 jobs in the industry.
“We have seen small and large businesses severely impacted, billions of rand lost in taxes, the entrenchment of illicit trading and the looting of alcohol stores,” SAB said.
SAB called on the government to work closely with the alcohol industry to enable the earliest possible lifting of the ban on alcohol sales, and to collaborate in finding lawful and sustainable solutions that assist in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.
“SAB is, and always will be, committed to promoting and endorsing the responsible consumption and sale of alcohol. SAB calls on all South Africans, consumers and traders alike, to be safe and responsible,” SAB said.
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