Liquor traders and restaurants have slammed fresh plans aimed at restricting liquor trading and reducing congregations in Covid-19 hotspots as likely the final knockout blow to their already weakened sectors.
This comes as reports emerged yesterday that the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) has recommended imposing a curfew and stricter restrictions on liquor trade in Covid-19 hotspots.
The reports said pubs and taverns would close at 10pm to curb the spread of covid-19 in regional lockdowns.
The South African Leisure, Tourism and Hospitality Association (Saltha), which also represents liquor traders across the country, said the move could be a "final nail" in the coffin for the industry still reeling from the effects of the hard lockdwon..
Richard Zulu, the national secretary of Saltha, said even though they welcome any move aimed at saving lives, their industry cannot afford any trade restrictions. "If they need to shut down an area to be able to address the pandemic and there is relief for the industry as it gets impacted by the restriction ... we will be happy," Zulu said.
Zulu said government and the NCCC have been excluding liquor traders despite taking decisions that impacted on their businesses and their livelihoods.
Cabinet met yesterday to consider, among others, the recommendations made by the NCCC in its meeting held on Tuesday.
Government spokesperson Phumla Williams had not responded to questions sent by Sowetan by the time of going to print yesterday.
Wendy Alberts, the CEO of the Restaurant Association of South Africa (Rasa), said a decision to impose restrictions would be "fatal to the economy and the industry".
Alberts said if government imposed restrictions without any scientific proof that restaurants were responsible for the spike in Covid-19 infections, they will consider taking legal action.
"It would cause major job losses and it would be an inhumane decision at all costs. What we need to do is to find a responsible solution, educate the people and people need to use their common sense," Alberts said.
She said none of the patron registers kept by the restaurants had been needed by the authorities. "We don't even know if Covid has been in our restaurants because no authority has been there to collect any of the track and tracing registers that we've done or looked at our establishments and understood how we operate," Alberts said.
Thabo Modise, the chairperson of the Gauteng Liquor Forum, said they understood the rationale behind the suggestion to impose trade restrictions in hotspots but he appealed to the government to allow take-aways which would eradicate the problem of having gatherings at drinking spots.
Professor Adrian Puren from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases said the NCCC was identifying the reasons why the numbers have gone up in the hotspots and trying to come up with interventions to mitigate the causes.
"Let's say there's super-spreader events such as restaurants, taverns and shebeens where there are large numbers of people in close proximity and not wearing masks... so they will ask what is it that needs to change and how would one intervene in this scenario," Puren said.
"You then want to reduce a number of people that are congregating... (increase) the compliance with the wearing of masks, those are the types of approaches one would adopt."
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