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Lockdown’s shattering of SA’s wine industry

We have all had to face the damaging impact of Covid-19, but none more so than in South Africa as wine producer, Bruce Jack, explains in this deeply personal account of life on the front line of a pandemic and government alcohol ban.

This is a long read – full of heart-breaking, infuriating stuff and some uplifting moments – and I urge you to read it in full. But, here included, is some apt context to the madness that is the lockdown Prohibition and its ghastly fallout…. [Ed]

Bruce Jack

Wine’s toxic government non-relationship

Almost worse than the financial fallout was discovering how the wine industry is perceived by our government. There are powerful people in parliament who only see the toxic relationship between alcohol and the populace. This is a reality in many poor communities unfortunately.

There is also a much-vocalised belief that this is a direct legacy of apartheid and colonialism and this underpins much of the fervent anti-alcohol rhetoric which shows no signs of abating.

‘Big Beer’, in particular, is blamed for destroying more wealth than it creates. SAB (AB InBev) has recently given up trying to argue against this and gone the legal route, challenging the constitutionality of the latest ban in court.

While it may be true that the on-going disintegration of the wine industry is collateral damage caused by this attack on big industry beer, it is similarly correct that the State of Disaster Declaration and our President’s leadership style gave strong, key individuals within his cabinet enormous power last year.

They took a rare opportunity to ‘fix’ the abuse of beer. In so doing, they were probably trying to do the right thing. But that’s no solace to an industry in collapse as a result.

Alcohol-related hospital trauma admittance does indeed drop every time an alcohol ban is imposed, and although this cannot fully be attributed to the bans because curfews and taking cars off the road play a major role, they do contribute. Whenever hospital capacity is stretched, a quick fix is needed, and local alcohol sales are closed.

We have argued that the widespread destruction of wealth and the dismantling of the economy by the Zuma-led ANC had already led to the hopelessness and misery we see. And this reality is a major reason for alcohol abuse, not the other way around.

South Africa’s deep societal ills require a more holistic solution. An honest reflection on the root causes is the first step. That introspection may eventually materialise, but not in the short term.

It is also common knowledge that the now endemic, deep corruption had already, prior to the lockdown, destroyed most societal safety nets affecting the poor – including hospital capacity and social welfare efficacy.

I watched how things unravelled at municipal level as the brutal realities of lockdown hit. Of South Africa’s 278 municipalities, only 21 had a clean audit for the 2019 financial year. Arrests are rare despite the recent Auditor General’s report exposing over R32-billion in irregular expenditure – for irregular expenditure’ read illegally awarded tenders (often for family), blatant theft, material misstatements, refusing to hand over documentation, embezzlement, etc…

In our hour of need, most local government representatives country-wide, on full pay, disappeared behind discontinued mobile ‘phone numbers.

Piecemeal workers, like those sub-contracted by the construction sector, are usually paid on a weekly basis. Within a few weeks of the lockdown many had run out of cash. When municipalities were approached to help arrange food relief, the vast majority claimed it was not their responsibility. And in poor, rural farming areas like ours it was the farmers, churches, mosques, charity and civil organisations (like Rotary, Gift-of-the Givers and Red Cross) who responded to the unfolding humanitarian disaster….

Bleak outlook

Faced with such entrenched and resolute anti-alcohol sentiments the outlook is bad. We should expect further longer-term restrictions on alcohol trade alongside significantly higher duties.

This will not be about targeting wine producers. I’ve heard all the race-tinged conspiracy theories and they bore me. The reality is that we are a relatively insignificant pawn in a bigger political survival game.

It is true that alcohol abuse is a big social issue. But it is also true that our government has, to date, proven itself incapable of successfully addressing even minor social welfare issues (try continuous electricity, housing, sanitation and other basic service delivery) which have nothing to do with alcohol abuse.

Due to endemic corruption, blanket dysfunctionality and the underlying social welfare safety net is similarly in disrepair, held together by the flimsiest of threads. We have probably passed the point of no return in this regard. As we saw with food relief during the first wave of the pandemic, it will increasingly be civil society that fills the gaps.

And this is one silver lining. Civil society has been strengthened by this pandemic and has suddenly become far more relevant and therefor powerful. Religious, community and charity organisations (as well as key individuals) previously side-lined by the political machine have demonstrated their critical role to society.

Now the majority see that the machine is broken, a quiet revolution is undeniably afoot – one that will see civil society accumulate more influence and resilience. This was needed and can only be good for South Africa….

The-Buyer.net: Read the full article here