Demands to lift alcohol ban: President Cyril Ramaphosa has requested that he be given until Friday to respond to the letter from the Gauteng Liquor Forum
President Cyril Ramaphosa has requested that he be given until Friday to respond to the lawyers’ letter from the Gauteng Liquor Forum demanding that the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma immediately remove, amend or lift the regulation which places a total ban of the selling of alcohol.
In the response, the office of the state attorney, representing government, explains that the president is still working on a plan to alleviate the strain faced by business owners and that his response would be dependent on his engagement with various stakeholders. Before the full lockdown was instituted, liquor stores could operate from 9am-6pm during the week and 9pm-1pm on weekends.
However, a total ban on the selling of alcohol unduly and unlawfully infringes on their section 22 Constitutional rights. The GLF further lamented the fact that there was no consultation process with members of the various liquor trade organisations even when the decision was made to extend the lockdown last week.“Our clients have rights to be consulted when decisions of this magnitude are taken given the adverse economic impact. Given the urgency, even a shortened process of consultation on the issue of banning of alcohol could have sufficed, but there has been no consultation at all,” according to the letter.
“The government has decided that only essential goods may be sold during the lockdown. Alcohol is not an essential good,” according to the letter.
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