Hospital bed savings under Covid-19 booze ban ‘neglibile’, says SAB

While scientists and health professionals have hailed the most recent ban on liquor sales as a shot in the arm for overwhelmed hospitals, South African Breweries (SAB) says the number of beds being freed up is “negligible”.

The brewing giant – along with a tavern owner, an SAB truck owner-driver and an attorney – this week turned to the Western Cape High Court in a desperate bid to have the ban lifted. They want the regulations under which the ban was effected late last month, declared unlawful and of no force and effect.

In the papers – which list President Cyril Ramaphosa and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as the respondents – SAB director Richard Rivett-Carnac highlighted the “enormous” toll the previous two bans had taken on the industry as well as on the fiscus.

“The economic impact of the ban is devastating and unnecessary,” he said,

“An impact assessment estimates job losses in consequences of the two previous alcohol bans, perhaps reaching up to 165,000 jobs lost. [And] during the previous two bans on the sale of alcohol, we estimate that on an annualised basis R55 billion was lost to gross domestic profit as a consequence”.

One of the South African Medical Research Council’s (SAMRC’s) models from last year suggested bans on liquor sales freed up in the region of 5000 hospital beds a week. But in the papers, Rivett-Carnac questioned the figure. Further, he said even if it were to be taken at face value, it was “negligible” in the grander scheme of things.

“Countrywide figures are, in and of themselves, unhelpful because they say nothing about the burden on individual hospitals,” he said.

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Rivett-Carnac argued the burden of alcohol-related trauma cases on individual hospitals was in fact minimal and government could provide 5000 extra beds in field hospitals.

He also argued the revenue the country was bleeding could otherwise be used to capacitate the country’s healthcare services.

“While [the regulations] may notionally save a few hospital beds, it costs the government many billions in excise duty, VAT and income tax that could finance the extra beds needed many times over,” he said.

“They therefore do not assist in protecting the public or providing relief to the public because the government foregoes such huge amounts of money that might be used for the legitimate purpose of providing hospital beds for the combatting of Covid-19”.

Rivett-Carnac labelled government’s argument that high alcohol consumption was directly linked to the number of trauma cases throughout the country “vague”.

“It does not specify what high consumption is or what proportion of beer drinkers fall into this category. Without these details, there is only guesswork,” he said.

He also disputed the argument that most of South Africa’s gender-based violence was linked to alcohol, with government previously having said 65% of women reported their partners used alcohol before assaulting them.

“In the absence of actual numbers as proposed to proportionate percentage, it is impossible to form any informed view as to how many assaults on women are caused by alcohol abuse,” he said.

The case has been brought on an urgent basis but a date for hearing has yet to be decided. In the meantime, the president and the minister have been given until next Wednesday to respond.

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