Times Of Swaziland: BOOZE BAN: ABOUT 200 BEVERAGES WORKERS FACE JOB LOSSES

BOOZE BAN: ABOUT 200 BEVERAGES WORKERS FACE JOB LOSSES
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BY THOKOZANI MAMBA on 10/03/2021 08:33:00


SITEKI – About 200 Eswatini Beverages employees are in a precarious situation
of losing their jobs due to the continued suspension of alcohol sales and
distribution by government.
Government has extended the partial lockdown by another two weeks. Eswatini
Beverages Head of Legal and Corporate Affairs Mpumelelo Makhubu said the
announced two-week ban on alcohol sales and distribution had exacerbated the
damage to the company, considering the seven-month ban accumulated last year.
Makhubu said the pressure to protect jobs of employees and the livelihoods of
over 15 000 people in the company’s value chain was now almost unbearable.
Distribution
He said even though his company supported the enforced government’s measures,
but it did not believe that the total ban on alcohol sales and distribution was
the optimal solution to effectively manage the delicate balance between lives
and livelihoods.
“As a business, we understand and appreciate the precarious position that our
government has to navigate in an attempt to safeguard the lives and livelihoods
of our people. While we support measures that curb the spread of the pandemic,
we do not believe that the total ban on alcohol is the optimal solution to
effectively manage the delicate balance between lives and livelihoods,” he
said.
He further mentioned that the continued alcohol ban promoted criminal smuggling
syndicates (black market). “We know that there are other tried and tested
solutions that ensure that the alcohol ban does not adversely hurt the economy,
put a further burden on the health system through the consumption of illicit
alcohol, and promote criminal smuggling syndicates, which become a gateway to
other illegal activities. The announced two weeks of lockdown extension further
exacerbates the damage to the business considering the seven-month ban in
2020,” he emphasised. Makhubu said the company had already lost two months of
business since the year began. When asked to quantify the loss incurred by his
company, Makhubu said that information could not be shared with the public.
“It does not help that we are now the only country in Africa with total
restrictions on the sale of alcohol, and the conversations with the owners of
the businesses are increasingly becoming more difficult. The unpredictable
manner in which the lockdowns are announced makes it difficult and costly to
plan and do business with some level of certainty.That said, we will take
necessary measures to ensure the long-term sustainability of the business and
continue engagements with government, particularly on the way forward,” he
said. Meanwhile, Eswatini National Liquor Traders Association Secretary General
Thamsanqa Hlatshwayo said government should review its stance on the matter.
Hlatshwayo said the continued ban on alcohol sales had promoted the black
market.
Pleaded
He pleaded with government to act on the matter as more job losses would be
incurred and poverty and criminal activities would increase. “I engaged
Eswatini Beverages and they mentioned that they had stock, but due to the ban,
their business was not doing well. The ban also promotes the smuggling of
alcohol as our neighbours have opened the sale of alcohol. We have that
challenge as businesses in this sector as we are the most affected. Government
has to make a decision because the economy is suffering and more people are
subjected to poverty with the rise in job losses. If the company closes shop,
that will mean an increase in prices as we have to source the product outside
the country,” he said.