South African Breweries (SAB) says it will consider its decision to cancel investments in the country if the government provides commitments around its future lockdown regulations and alcohol sales.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the Sunday Times<\/a><\/strong> Richard Rivett-Carnac, AB InBev’s VP of finance, legal and corporate affairs for the rest of Africa, said that this includes a ‘firm and binding commitment’ from the government not to reintroduce the ban on the sale of alcohol.<\/p>\n The group also wants more\u00a0certainty about the long-term alcohol regulatory framework in South Africa.<\/p>\n Rivett-Carnac said the company understands that restrictions on people\u2019s movements and on gatherings could be required, but it wants an undertaking that an outright alcohol ban will not be reimposed.<\/p>\n \u201cLast year the impact was devastating and we didn\u2019t trade for months and months, so you can imagine a business of our size with our fixed-cost base, with zero revenue coming in, the impact was very material on our business last year.<\/p>\n “And this year we disclosed that volumes declined again after we were again locked down in January. The impact each time there is a ban is very severe.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that the SAB will continue its legal action in the Western Cape High Court against the government in a bid to get a ruling on the unconstitutionality of such bans.<\/p>\n