The South African alcohol industry is wary of excise duties ahead of 2022 Budget Speech iol.co.za - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from iol.co.za Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Prolonged economic stagnation, unemployment, state collapse, failure of public infrastructure, proliferation of illicit economic activity – these are the top risks facing South Africa, according to the 17th World Economic Forum Global Risks Report.
While the first two alcohol bans are said to have led to the closure of 80 wineries and 350 producers, the latest ban has seen more wine farms are on the market and for sale go up. Picture: Ian Landsberg/African News Agency (ANA).
Wine industry to continue with court case to mitigate possible future alcohol bans
By Tshego Lepule
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Cape Town - Despite the partial lift of the alcohol ban, a wine organisation is forging ahead with a court application to pre-empt the impact of future bans as the industry faces years of recovery from the financial blow.
Vinpro approached the Western Cape High Court on January 27, with an urgent application to lift the ban on the sale of alcohol and was due to have the matter heard this Friday.
Daily Maverick 168 weekly newspaper.
South Africa is experiencing an exacerbation of illicit trade at a time when the economy is at its weakest.
“Unemployment is at 31%, poverty levels are more than 50%, youth unemployment is higher than 50% and our inequality levels in society are the most unequal in the world. When you add illicit trade to that picture, the situation is increasingly dire,” said Busi Mavuso, chief executive of Business Leadership SA.
She was speaking at a webinar organised by Business Leadership SA on illicit trade.
Mavuso said the ban on tobacco alone translated to a loss of R35-million a day for the fiscus. “Our national budget deficit is more than R350-billion. With businesses closing down and thousands of job losses, South Africans are looking at government to assist with stimulus packages to help businesses rebuild and survive. In that environment, the loss of fiscal revenue and tax revenue could not have come at a worse time.”
SAB booze squad fights alcohol ban The brewer has approached the Western Cape High Court on the grounds that the ban contravenes the right to trade and the right to human dignity 10 January 2021 - 00:10 By HILARY JOFFE
South African Breweries (SAB) has enlisted a Tembisa taverner, a beer truck owner-driver, and an attorney whose work-life balance depends on his evening drink to join the company in its urgent application to the courts to get the government to lift the ban on alcohol sales.
SAB, which is estimated to produce more than 70% of SA s beer, has warned that it is reviewing its operations and could close plants and distribution centres and cut jobs and investment.