President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to respond today to requests by Gauteng business owners to lift the country’s alcohol ban. But legal and public health experts warn lifting the moratorium on alcohol sales may come at a cost to South Africa’s coronavirus response.

But legal and public health experts say that not only is the moratorium within the ambit of the Act but that it may already have freed up hospital beds and reduced the risk of people spreading the virus.

President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to respond to requests by Gauteng business owners to lift the country’s alcohol ban. But legal and public health experts warn lifting the moratorium on alcohol sales may come at a cost to South Africa’s coronavirus response.

The Gauteng Liquor Forum represents about 20 000 tavern and shebeen owners in the province. In an 11 April letter sent to Ramaphosa , the forum argues the alcohol ban not only falls outside the scope of the Disaster Management Act but has failed to meet its aims, namely stopping the spread of the new coronavirus. Plus, the body’s lawyers argue, the government did not hold public consultations on the moratorium. The group now says it will go to court to lift the ban if it must and instead resume the restricted trading hours in place before Ramaphosa instituted a national lockdown to curb new cases of the virus.

But legal and public health experts say that not only is the moratorium within the ambit of the Act but that it may already have freed up hospital beds and reduced the risk of people spreading the virus.

The board has written to Ramaphosa threatening legal action if he had not responded to their concerns by Tuesday, April 14. The board, which claims to represent 20 000 shebeens and taverns in Gauteng said the economic impact of the lockdown had been hard to bear for its members. It requested that Ramaposa consider the unbanning of the sale of alcohol during the now extended lockdown period, which is expected to end on April 30. 

There has been an outcry from political parties particularly the EFF which has also written to Ramaphosa urging him not to adhere to the liquor board’s requests. It said the unbanning of alcohol sales was not in the public interest