PRETORIA, South Africa (CU)_The South African government is currently discussing the possibility of lifting the country’s alcohol ban, as COVID-19 infection rates have begun to ease.
The prohibition, which was implemented nationwide on December 29, was in part designed to ease the burden on hospitals from vehicle accidents and drink-related violence.
Although the ban is set to be in force until mid-February, it is reported that it may be lifted sooner based on the decision of the cabinet, which is due to meet on Wednesday (Feb 3).
“Health services in several parts of the country have reported that the prohibition of alcohol sales had significantly reduced the amount of trauma cases seen in our hospitals over the New Year period,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said in his last national address on January 11.
However, the ban is also reported to have had a significant economic impact, as the move brought the amount of spending called off by South African Breweries to 5 billion rand (US$331 million) since the beginning of the pandemic.
Moreover, the government ban on alcohol sales for the third time also led multinational brewing company, Anheuser-Busch InBev NV’s South African division to cancel an additional 2.5 billion rand ($165 million) of investment a couple of weeks ago.
In the past couple of days (Jan 30 and 31,) the number of new COVID-19 infections reported in South Africa were not exceeding 5,300, a sharp decline from the more than 20,000 daily cases registered earlier in January.
According to the Ministry of Health, the country has reported a total of 1,453,761 infections and 44,164 virus-induced deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
