THE National Liquor Traders Council (NLTC), Liquor Traders Association of South Africa (LTASA), Restaurant Association of South Africa (RASA) and Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) has written a letter to the president’s office following the recent 10-week alcohol ban.
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In the letter, they stated that the current alcohol suspension has had a devastating impact on the livelihoods of their members and their families.
Restaurants across the country took to the streets on Wednesday, 22 July and held a peaceful protest to voice the negative impact the ban of alcohol has on their businesses, appealing to Ramaphosa to relax the Covid-19 regulations.
The associations pleaded to be permitted to partner with government to find solutions to the negative impact of the irresponsible consumption of alcohol on society.
“In the meantime, we humbly ask that the alcohol suspension be lifted in order to save the livelihoods of our members and the nearly 1 000 000 South Africans who depend on the industry for their income,” said the associations in a letter, dated 21 July 2020.
The associations stated that the people who are the most vulnerable to the devastating impact of this suspension are the 34 500 licensed tavern owners and their more than 200 000 dependents.
“The 10 000 shebeen permit holders and their dependents. The 2 700 independent liquor store owners, their 25 000 employees and their over 70 000 dependents. The 7000 restaurant owners, their 250 000 employees and their dependents. The nearly one million South Africans who rely on the alcohol industry for their income and hence their survival, many of whom now face an uncertain future with job losses inevitable.
They said they acknowledge that the irresponsible or excessive consumption of alcohol can have a negative impact on people’s lives.
“Our pledge to you and your leadership is that leaders in our industry want to work with leaders in government to find solutions to minimize the harmful effects of over-consumption,” read the letter.
In the letter, they also pointed out that for every month that alcohol is suspended, the government loses approximately R4.2 billion in excise duty and VAT (the previous 10-week suspension has potentially cost over R10 billion in lost revenue).
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