Govt still hasn’t answered us on relief funds, tavern owners cry

The National Liquor Traders Council (NLTC) national convener, Lucky Ntimane says government has failed to communicate with the council in regards to the alcohol industry receiving a Covid-19 relief fund despite having written several letters in past weeks.

The NLTC has been pleading with government to save the 34,500 taverns that were currently closed due to the ban on alcohol sales.

The council has argued that taverns’ contribution to the economy, specifically the township economy, was estimated by the department of trade, industry and competition to be between R40-billion and R60-billion per year.

Speaking during the webinar on the impact of the lockdown on women tavern owners on Friday morning, Ntimane said there were tavern owners that had taken loans to restock alcohol when the ban was lifted in June.

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He said the owners had no idea how they were going to repay the loans following the second suspension of alcohol sales.

“It has been a very difficult three weeks, experiencing the pain and hurt that the liquor industry is going through. It is very disheartening that traders are more concerned about poverty than Covid-19.

“Government doesn’t seem to care even though the only true black business is taverns and shop owners.

“The lockdown has subjected traders to a harder lockdown because they have to guard their alcohol stock. All we needed was government that was caring enough to listen,” he said.

Diageo South Africa, which owns brands like Johnnie Walker, Tanqueray and Smirnoff 1818, said it has avoided taking legal action against government to challenge the ban.

The company’s corporate relations director, Sibani Mngadi said during the webinar that government’s reason of “irresponsible alcohol consumption” for banning alcohol sales was ill-advised by the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC).

Last month, President Cyril Ramaphosa had announced government decided to reinstate the ban to conserve hospital capacity and to ensure there were enough beds available amid the Covid-19 peak in South Africa.

“We find ourselves in a situation where we are not given an option to engage on other alternative ways to deal with the issue.

“The question the MRC is struggling to answer is was the ban ill-advised. From an economic perspective, the decision was ill-advised.

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“This is a desperate situation and we would like to have it addressed as quickly as possible. Conversations are ongoing at different levels,” he said.

Meanwhile on Thursday, the Gauteng Liquor Board (GLB) director Cleo Bodibe-Lushaba said women tavern owners deserved support of any kind having make up 54% of tavern owners in the country.

“We see businesses suffering you know. We see businesses shutting down and liquor trade is even worse,” she said on Power987.

Bodibe-Lushaba said that there were plans in place from the GLB to assist women liquor traders.

“There have been a few initiatives, but now with the Covid-19 we need to literally pull up our socks as the liquor industry as a whole, of course with government also playing a role,” she said.

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