A regional Eastern Cape business chamber has labelled Premier Oscar Mabuyane’s call to push for a renewed alcohol ban as “knee jerk”, but his call has the support of the Eastern Cape Liquor Board.
Border Kei Chamber of Business , which has 13 liquor trading members out of 583 enterprises, has slammed Mabuyane’s plan. Eastern Cape Black Business Forum secretary Luthando Bara said: “Our view is that it seems the alcohol ban has not only been about keeping a lid on the spread of the Covid-19 virus – it’s about the government experimenting with a way to cut the crime rate and change drinking habits with little or no enforcement.
“Reported cases during this period also include drunk driving and drunk pedestrians hit by passing cars. All these cases are a clear illustration of the extent to which people blatantly flout the alert level 3 lockdown regulations, which, among other things, stipulate that people must drink alcohol at home.”
“We would like to urge our communities to be extremely cautious during the relaxed alert Level 3 lockdown as the virus is still in our midst. Alert Level 3 is meant to open an economy in a manner that does not lead to a rise in infections.”“This defeats the very same essence of [why] people must stay at home, maintain social distance and adhere to proper hygiene.
I support the premier the booze must be banned period