Government is currently considering a proposal by the Restaurant Association of South Africa (RASA) to lift the country’s ban on the sale of alcohol and evening curfew.<\/p>\n
The association\u2019s Wendy Alberts said that the proposal would see the introduction of ‘triage’ areas, where individual communities take responsibility for alcohol-related harms in a specific area.<\/p>\n
Alberts said under this system, individual consumers would have to apply for a permit to purchase alcohol\u00a0 – likely at the local police station – and would have to apply using their phone number and other forms of registration.<\/p>\n
This would extend to bar and tavern owners refusing to serve a customer who could possibly drink and drive, as well as specific community-led interventions around hotspot areas which have a high number of crimes related to alcohol consumption.<\/p>\n
If problems arose in a certain area then they would no longer be able to sell liquor, she said.<\/p>\n
Alberts said that the association is also calling for a lifting of an evening curfew as it served no purpose considering the current ban on the sale of alcohol.<\/p>\n
She confirmed that the RASA’s proposal is officially being considered by government and that an official response is expected on Wednesday (29 July).<\/p>\n
When asked about the likelihood of success in lifting the ban, Alberts indicated that the proposal is effectively a demand as the restaurant industry cannot continue under the current regulations.<\/p>\n
Tavern warning<\/strong><\/p>\n The National Liquor Traders Council (NLTC) has warned that a second ban on the sale of alcohol threatens the livelihoods of more than 34,500 tavern owners in South Africa, while as many as 500,000 people in the industry face economic ruin.<\/p>\n Taverns, the liquor body said, contribute between R40 billion and R60 billion a year to the economy, specifically the township economy.<\/p>\n It has called on the government to support taverns financially during the ban through a one-off payment of R20,000 for each tavern, totalling R690 million.<\/p>\n NLTC convener Lucky Ntimane called on president Cyril Ramaphosa to provide clarity on when the ban on alcohol sales will be lifted.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the government acts now and lifts the ban, we can begin to recover and prevent this catastrophe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe unfortunate decision by president Cyril Ramaphosa to suspend the sale of alcohol has shattered the entire alcohol industry and its extensive value chain. The fact that the government failed to consult with the industry before the ban added salt to the already gaping wound.<\/p>\n \u201cThe government\u2019s posture as regards support for taverns has been mute, and its lack of appetite to engage with the NLTC on the issue of preserving livelihoods and lifting the alcohol ban has been ignored,\u201d said Ntimane.<\/p>\n Speaking<\/a> through a virtual Presidential Imbizo on the coronavirus earlier this month, Ramaphosa said that the government was forced to reintroduce the prohibition on the sale of alcohol as hospital beds were being taken up by alcohol-related trauma cases.<\/p>\n However, he said that this should be seen as a \u2018suspension\u2019 on the sale of alcohol \u2018for a while\u2019 to allow for the country\u2019s healthcare systems to focus on the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is not a ban, it\u2019s a suspension to allow our health system to be able to cope,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The NLTC has announced a Tavern Relief Programme that aims to raise R100 million to support taverns over a two to three-month period by providing food parcels and other necessary supplies.<\/p>\n Ntimane said the body hopes to raise the money through industry partners and the general public.<\/p>\n Alcohol ban<\/strong><\/p>\n The government has said that there is a clear\u00a0correlation<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>between an increase in hospital trauma cases and the reintroduction of alcohol sales.<\/p>\n However, medical\u00a0experts from the Universities of the Witwatersrand and KwaZulu-Natal have previously warned that the major decline in trauma cases in hospitals during level 4 and level 5 lockdown may not be directly attributable to the alcohol ban.<\/p>\n Instead, it\u2019s more likely that the reduction of trauma cases was as a result of restricted movement under the \u2018hard\u2019 lockdowns, which prevented people from interacting and getting into trouble and kept more people off the roads, they said.<\/p>\n