The Fight for the Booze Ban to be Lifted after the Looting
Pick n Pay CEO and alcohol sector urge President Ramaphosa to end the booze ban
(Photo) DURBANVILLE, SOUTH AFRICA – DECEMBER 03: A general view of liquor for sale on December 03, 2020 in Durbanville, South Africa. It is reported the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) has recommended the restriction of alcohol sales amid fears of a second COVID-19 surge . (Photo by Gallo Images/Jacques Stander)
‘Lifting the ban will be widely welcomed across the country as a positive and responsible step forward in our recovery from the events of last week.’
Pieter Boone, the CEO of grocery chain Pick n Pay, called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to end the booze ban, noting that “many independent shopkeepers… will not survive another prolonged ban”. Lifting prohibition will also presumably help Pick n Pay’s bottom line. Boone’s comments were echoed by the wider alcohol industry, which said the loss to SA’s GDP before the looting was almost R65-billion and counting.
Boone made the comments in a statement on Thursday after visiting stores in Gauteng and KZN that were damaged by the looting unleashed after the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma.
Pick n Pay CEO Pieter Boone, “Speaking to franchisees and independent traders in the affected areas,
I firmly believe that it is time now for the president to announce a lifting of the ban on liquor sales,” Boone said in the statement.
“We have hopefully passed the peak of the Covid-19 third wave. In normal times, many independent shopkeepers depend on responsible liquor sales to sustain their businesses, and will not survive another prolonged ban. The social unrest, looting, and damage has dealt them a further body blow – as well as releasing a large amount of looted liquor into the illicit market.
“Lifting the ban will be widely welcomed across the country as a positive and responsible step forward in our recovery from the events of last week.”
Boone said that Pick n Pay was anticipating the lifting of the ban, and that by the end of next week the company will have repaired and be ready to reopen 28 of its 76 severely damaged liquor stores in KZN and Gauteng. In addition, 136 food, grocery, clothing and building stores belonging to Pick n Pay were looted and/or burnt.
The alcohol bans have been taking a mounting toll on the economy and jobs, and the looting of liquor stores points to bottled up frustration on the streets. Plenty of social and health problems are attributed to alcohol consumption in South Africa, but prohibition is a blunt instrument that does not treat adults like grown-ups – fitting for a paternalistic policy that has racist and classist roots.
The wider alcohol sector on Thursday also called for an end to the ban.
Read the full story on: DailyMaverick.