Liquor lobby starts campaign to vaccinate Gauteng’s tavern owners

The National Liquor Traders (NLT) and Concerned Tshwane Liquor Traders Association (CTLTA) are starting a campaign to vaccinate Gauteng’s tavern owners.

The campaign is part of a bid to end the on-and-off-again liquor bans by government.

While liquor traders have welcomed the move to lockdown level one, they say this is not enough and are lobbying for government to do away with lockdowns and liquor bans entirely.

“The purpose of the tavern rally is to highlight the problems taverns and shebeen permit holders are experiencing under the bans and unjustified restrictions that we have been exposed to in the past 18 months,” said the NLT in a statement.

The “Tavern Rally” is intended to give liquor traders a voice.

Some of the issues that owners will be tackling are:

• Shebeen permits
• Vaccination drive for liquor traders
• Tavern and Covid-19 compliance
• Liquor traders’ relief fund
• Gender-based violence

ALSO READ: Bring us your customers, and we’ll bring vaccines, Health MEC tells taverns

The NLT said it was concerned about the impending fourth wave of infections predicted to hit the country in December.

It has also, in the past, criticised the government’s vaccination campaigns as ineffective when it comes to stemming the infection rates.

Back in August, Limpopo health MEC Phophi Ramathuba was criticised for her “No vaccine, no booze” remarks.

She had announced that her department would engage with the South African Breweries in Polokwane to ramp up its vaccination drive.

“If it takes a beer or two to convince someone to get a jab, so be it, said Ramathuba at the time.

Market research company NielsenIQ said South Africa’s last liquor ban came at the cost of R7.6 billion.

Research also showed that the bans affected people’s long-term drinking habits because drinkers were not necessarily returning to old habits once the bans were lifted.

“Beer, in particular, was hit hard; people simply didn’t have the money to go drinking in taverns,” said NielsenIQ.

That saw the beer market shrink by a third.

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