Where do we go from here?
Alcohol industry wants clarity on safe reopening
Some stakeholders of the alcohol industry are biting their nails, anxiously waiting for clarity from the Government Gazette regarding how they will operate starting October 1st and beyond as Botswana exits the State of Public Emergency ( SOE) today.
On Tuesday last week, the Minister of Investment, Trade, and Industry, Mmusi Kgafela informed the nation that businesses are expected to return to normal ( pre- Covid- 19 era) as the ( SOE) comes to an end on September 30th.
But even as he said this, some still demand to know the parameters of operation if any. With just days to the end of the 18- month, ( SOE), some business owners don’t know how they should proceed, particularly as the end of the ( SOE) coincides with the Independence holidays long weekend. Some don’t even know if they should make any plans at all. Following his public address on Tuesday, the Minister held two meetings with representatives from the Botswana Beverages Association, Botswana Alcohol Industry Association, Business Botswana, and Club Owners.
His last meeting with the stakeholders was on Friday afternoon, at which several recommendations pertaining to the resumption of operations were tabled as well as a number of issues affecting their businesses.
The meetings were very productive, and the Minister has promised to take the recommendations and protocols forward for recommendations and ratifications, said a source from the alcohol industry.
On Wednesday, the Botswana Entertainment Promoters Association alongside the Botswana Beverage Association was expected to give a Covid- 19 update on the safe opening of the Creative Industry.
Speaking in an interview this week, the Secretary of the Botswana Beverage Association ( BoBa), Chex Lekalake said they were still not sure about what will happen in terms of operating hours, number of people to admit, as well as other finer details that could make life easy for them.
The only thing that they have right now, he said is the Guidelines in their trading license. “We do not know if anything will be removed or enhanced from those guidelines,” he said.
He also said that they wanted to avoid instances where they might find themselves on the wrong side of the law, with the police knocking on their doors.
“As it is right now, we do not know whether we should go and buy stock or even whether we should accept bookings for our places of business,” Lekalake said, adding that those parameters will really give them an insight into what is going to happen. Meanwhile during the Friday afternoon stakeholders’ meeting with the Minister they assured Mmusi that after everything that they have been through over the past 18 months, they were committed to self- policing during this transition period and beyond.
The stakeholders do not want to see themselves back to periods where their businesses were closed due to alcohol restrictions/ curfews and lockdowns. “We do not want to see the industry closing again,” President of Business Botswana, Gobusamang Keebine said.
He also said that members were clear on understanding that should anyone of them pose a Covid- 19 risk by flouting any rules/ regulations, they knew that the action will result in a ripple effect that will affect the whole industry.
“We want to have a self- regulating system on the ground,” he said. Some of the protocols that stakeholders agreed on are that clubs and indoor venues must be permitted to admit 50 percent; dancing floors must be eliminated to open up the venue more.
Others include having an information board that will keep track of how many people have been admitted, as well as an IT- related counting device. They also want face shields to be used as they will allow for easy talking, drinking and in some instances avoid incidents where thieves might use the cloth masks to commit crimes.
“This 50 percent will also take care of social distancing,” he explained. He also noted that marshals will be employed, and they will monitor and control the situation in the venues.
At the meeting, one of the issues that are giving them a migraine is how some patrons will come and park their cars, and drink alcohol from their cooler boxes. This kind of behaviour by patrons puts owners of these venues in a bad light as people assume that the owner is to blame when he is not even benefiting from these transgressions.
“90 percent of the time these venues are empty inside. People will go there to braai say Pork, and they do not buy drinks from these places. In these instances, we cannot blame the owners of these places,” Keebine said, adding that in cases like these they do not have a legal backing to do anything hence they are calling on bye- laws and the police to work with them.