LIQUOR TRADERS PLAN MASS PROTEST ACTION

MANZINI - Fed up liquor traders have taken their call for the reopening of the liquor industry to the next level.

This is because they are planning a mass protest action that will include final consumers and other sectors, which are affected by the ban on liquor sale, like their workers, public transport industry workers, the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) and entertainment industry among others.

As such, the traders in the liquor industry said they were prepared to go to court to ask for routes if the local authority they would approach would deny them the opportunity to demonstrate on its streets.

This resolution was taken during the liquor traders meeting which was organised by the Swaziland National Liquor Association (SNLA) at The George Hotel yesterday. 

available

However, for a start, the liquor traders agreed that they should test waters by allowing those who would be available next Friday to march with the leaders of the association to deliver petitions to the Prime Minister’s Office, European Union (EU) Commissioner and South African High Commission. 

They branded this petition delivery march ‘a leaders’ march’. They said everyone who was affected by the ban on liquor sale, including liquor traders and members of the public, would be allowed to accompany the leaders of the association to deliver the petitions to the three offices.

breached

From the PM’s Office, they said they would demand the reopening of liquor trade, while in the EU and SA High Commission, they would report the Eswatini government for breaching the Free Trade Agreement between the   European Free Trade Association (EFTA) States and Southern African Customs Union (SACU) States by banning the sale of alcohol in the kingdom. Their argument was that most of the liquor they were selling comes from outside the country. 

Thereafter, they said they would do a post-mortem and use the findings to launch the other attack, where they would convince the final consumers of liquor and the abovementioned sectors to join them. In fact, they said they believed that with the assistance from the other sectors, they needed only four hours of protest action and government would reopen the sale of liquor in the country. 

In fact, SNLA’s Bandile Simelane said since he had been tasked with talking to the public transport industry workers about joining the proposed protest action, the response he got was that they were willing to partake in it. 

capacity

He said even though government allowed them to operate at 100 per cent capacity immediately after they (liquor traders) hinted on bringing the public transport industry workers on board in their strike, they felt the pinch of the liquor ban as they bought expensive alcohol in the black market. 

On top of that, he said he also spoke to certain individuals in the other sectors and since the ban on liquor sale affected their businesses, they were willing to come on board. 

spoken

In that regard, the liquor traders said they had also spoken to some public transport industry workers about the protest. They said the workers, especially conductors, said their work mostly included kumemetela (calling people to board their vehicles), than collecting money.

“So, they said by the end of the day, they will be extremely thirsty and need one or two beers to quench their thirst, thus they are willing to join us when we protest about the continued ban on liquor sale,” said one of the liquor traders.

They added that TUCOSWA was another entity they should approach with the intention of bringing it on board because the ban resulted in about  14 800 job losses in the industry as all the about 3 700 liquor licence holders were affected. On top of that, they said all the about 14 800 affected workers would automatically join them as they had been sitting at home for about five months without income.  In that regard, they argued that the workers’ federation, if approached, could come on board to fight for the jobs of its members. 

crucial

However, the SNLA Secretary General Thamsanqa Hlatshwayo pointed out the crucial people who could come on board were the consumers. He said this was because even though as liquor traders had not been earning income for five months, the consumers had been buying liquor at high prices as they get a 750ml of Castle Lite for about E50 from the black market, yet in a bottle store it costs about E17. He said the end users of liquor were suffering, yet the were their (liquor traders) bosses. In that regard, he said they needed to visit them with the sole goal of getting them on board. He said they had tried to bring liquor suppliers on board, but failed because their majority shareholders were foreigners and they do not want to be seen confronting government, instead, they want to protect their relationship with the administration.

In that regard, he urged the liquor traders to be prepared to fight for the reopening of  the liquor industry. He said other people and sectors would only support them if they show the eagerness to fight.  “They will support us when they see us on the streets,” he said.

He added that most liquor traders were adults, who were over 37 years old and this meant that they do not have enough energy to put their necessary pressure to government in order to get the desired results. He said that is why they  need the consumers because a majority of them were young and energetic people. 

politically

Again, the liquor traders said according to their analysis, government had allegedly used the outbreak of COVID-19 politically. They alleged that government was using COVID-19 to supress some people and sectors, like the liquor industry. 

On that note, they emphasised that they need to stand up and fight with government over the reopening of the liquor industry. They argued that this was because government allegedly failed to give them conclusive reasons why it banned alcohol in the country as there was no empirical evidence that it was a major contributor to the spread of COVID-19. Regarding the proposed march and protest action, the liquor traders agreed to select a committee that would plan and lead the activities, including ensuring that they adhere to the law, especially the Public Order Act of 2018.

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