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South African Alcohol Alliance board member Dr Sue Goldstein has found herself on the wrong side of the Liquor Traders Formation following her views about an industry analysis on alcohol sales bans, but she says her criticism was misunderstood.
The issue came after the release of the controversial Distell-funded analysis which disputed that alcohol sales bans were effective in keeping liquor-related trauma cases down. It s the rationale government used to justify the three bans it imposed on the country last year and in the early part of 2021, to keep hospital beds clear for Covid-19 patients.
Although the ban has since been lifted, expectations of a third Covid-19 wave have stoked fears of another ban, something the industry has said it can’t afford, arguing that more than 200 000 jobs are at risk and that it faces billions in losses. The analysis cited government crime and trauma admission data and concluded that other factors, such as c
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The Liquor Traders Formation has joined an industrywide call for the government to make the data it used as a basis for its various liquor sales bans available.
The call comes as the bans and restrictions were described as a incredible natural experiment by an Alcohol Policy Alliance board member.
Over the past year of the Covid-19 lockdown, government and liquor industry have been at odds over the bans.
South Africa s liquor traders have demanded that the government produce the data it used to impose the country s alcohol ban, as the alcohol industry s research on the bans faces criticism.
Reports of fourth booze ban a slap in the face jacarandafm.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from jacarandafm.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Angry SAs speak: The alcohol ban is economic murder!
sans alcohol.
We expected another alcohol ban as the country’s festive season had already been tainted by a record number of Covid-19 infections (surpassing one million), partly driven by a new strain of the deadly virus.
The alcohol ban was, once again, an attempt to bring down the number of alcohol-related hospital admissions as healthcare facilities grapple with an unending stream of patients and a shortage of oxygen.
What it means for the industry
On the face of it, a total ban on liquor sales seems like a sensible way to put an end to unnecessary hospital visits, but it doesn’t come without its consequences. As BizNews Editor Jackie Cameron recently reported, the alcohol ban has knocked South Africa’s glass packaging industry, which could lose a further R1.5bn in sales if the ban continues.