16 Jul 2020 SA liquor industry again taken out by govt diktat
With SA’s coronavirus cases surging, the re-imposition of the ban on the sale of alcohol was not perhaps not surprising, but it has blindsided the industry and will wreak yet more economic and social havoc on a vast supply chain.
The government’s ban on the sale of alcohol during the lockdown was reinstated without warning on Sunday night (12 July), and without considering the industry’s attempts to address behavioural changes around problem drinking.
This is the reaction from the SA alcohol industry, including the National Liquor Traders Council, SA Liquor Brand owners Association, the Beer Association of SA, Vinpro, the Liquor Traders Association of SA and manufacturers.
The industry said it has continuously engaged with government over the past month to ensure compliance with the limited trading days and hours imposed when the initial ban was modified, as well as adherence to the safety protocols in formal retail and taverns.
“Despite these engagements, the industry was given no warning about the ban, nor an opportunity to consult with the national coronavirus command centre before a decision was made. No consideration was given to the immediate logistical difficulties it poses for suppliers, distributors and retailers.”
“President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to reinstate the nationwide ban on the sales, dispensing, and distribution of alcohol with immediate effect is deeply troubling…..
TimesLive.co.za: Read more here
Booze ban: rule by diktat
With a wave of his presidential hand, the command was given: alcohol sales will once again be banned, with immediate effect. Minutes later, the new regulations were gazetted and came into force. South Africans now live in a dictatorship, writes Ivo Vegter.
‘Dictatorship is a form of government in which one person or a small group possesses absolute power without effective constitutional limitations,’ says the Encyclopædia Britannica. ‘The term dictatorship comes from the Latin title dictator, which in the Roman Republic designated a temporary magistrate who was granted extraordinary powers in order to deal with state crises.’
This perfectly describes President Cyril Ramaphosa and the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC), chaired by minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
When Ramaphosa on Sunday night deigned to appear before the people to inform them of the latest edicts issuing from the NCCC, he said ‘our nation is confronted by the gravest crisis in the history of our democracy’.
He’s right, but that crisis is not the coronavirus pandemic. It is the rise of authoritarianism, under which government rules by diktat, takes great credit for its meagre successes, and blames its failures on the disobedience of citizens….
DailyFriend.co.za: Read the full article here
Angry SA speaks: ‘Booze ban for minority kills economy for majority’.
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement that the sale and dispensing of alcohol has once again been banned – with the booze ban effective immediately – has brought about a new wave of opinions, both for and against it.
Whilst the number of infections continues to rise at a rapid pace, something else has gripped the South African population – opinions. Almost everyone has one. The growing resentment and outrage by South Africans has brought about an opinion epidemic, so to speak.
South Africa’s most recent ‘booze ban’ has made headlines across the globe….
BizNews.com: Read the full article