EFF calls DA’s request for unbanning alcohol ‘a conspiracy for mass murder’

The Econonic Freedom Fighters (EFF) called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to dismiss the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) “murderous proposal to resume the sale of alcohol during weekends”.

EFF said it was clear the DA was a “quintessential mouthpiece of the alcohol industry which demands its profit interests to trump the fight against Covid-19”.

“All evidence points to the fact that the alcohol ban has had the greatest benefit for general social stability and reservation of medical resources.

“Medical scientists have shown that the majority of trauma cases in hospitals are alcohol-related, from road fatalities to inter-personal fights,” the party said in a statement on Monday.

The EFF said the scientists had also shown beyond a reasonable doubt that alcohol deteriorates the immune system and to campaign for the sale of alcohol during the Covid-19 lockdown was therefore “unscientific”.

“Most of all, it is a conspiracy for mass murder and social instability. It can only be the DA’s racist disregard of black communities that leads it to campaign on such a murderous agenda.

“It is public hospitals, which service mostly black people, that will be overwhelmed with alcohol-related trauma cases, and not their private health facilities which service white people,” the party said.

EFF further said research had shown that it was during weekends that trauma cases increase exponentially in South Africa and despite the scientific evidence, the DA want alcohol outlets to sell during a health pandemic.

“This is because of their desire to see a complete collapse of black communities.

“The DA’s call is a confirmation that the real alcohol lobbyists are the huge alcohol corporations that benefit from the disruption of society. Alcohol contributes to horror in our communities and this will be worse during the fight against Covid-19.

“To resume the sale of alcohol during this humanitarian crisis is to chain our hands and succumb to this deadly virus. The only outcome of such a proposal is chaos, which will result in Covid-19 claiming thousands of black lives,” the EFF concluded.

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