Winde doubts announcement on booze ban will be made before Saturday

President Cyril Ramaphosa will meet the country’s premiers on Saturday, which means no major announcements, such as a decision on the ban on the sale of alcohol, can be expected before then.

The meeting was confirmed by Western Cape Premier Alan Winde who told a Cape Talk radio host that he has been invited to Ramaphosa’s president’s coordinating council (PCC) which will convene at 10am on Saturday.

Winde said the meeting is when Ramaphosa sits with the country’s premiers, adding that he does not think that an announcement on the ban on the sale of alcohol will be made before then.

He, however, said he hopes the ban will be lifted because “so many of our businesses need to get going”.

Lifting the ban is a call that has been made by Cosatu and Agri SA, with People Opposing Women Abuse (POWA), however, opposed to the ban being lifted.

Winde said during the radio interview that the focus should now shift to the economy, job creation and dealing with hunger and poverty.

The premier said he feels for small businesses who do not have access to capital and access to bond facilities, have had to retrench and have not received assistance in the form of Covid-19 relief funds.

Winde, however, conceded that there is a risk to reopening most sectors of the economy in the face of a risk of a second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, saying a balance would be necessary.

“But we definitely need to put a focus on the economy and on opening up other services that have been blocked between now and then,” he said.

Cosatu has said that lifting the ban should be in the interest of protecting the jobs of those who work within the industry, eNCA reported, but POWA, however, says the consumption of alcohol partly contributes to high levels of gender-based violence in South Africa which is why it supports the ban.

Agri SA has said that the ban on the sale of alcohol “is creating corporate carnage” and has urged the government to reconsider it “to allow the agricultural sector to continue contributing towards economic growth”.

The National Liquor Traders Council (NLTC) national convener, Lucky Ntimane has said industry representatives would at the moment refrain from commenting on speculation that the ban would be lifted and would rather wait for the president to make an announcement.

He said, however, the government has not been in contact with the council on relief funds being provided to tavern owners.

(Compiled by Makhosandile Zulu. Additional reporting, Molefe Seeletsa)

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