No more booze as Cyril cracks the whip
Lax attitude forces president to bring back liquor ban, curfew
PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has warned that South Africa would not be able to minimise the damage caused by the massive Covid-19 spread if citizens continued to ignore preventive measures put in place by the government.
Ramaphosa was addressing the nation last night on the latest efforts to contain the sporadic spread of Covid19, and he announced the immediate return of several restrictions including an alcohol ban and a night curfew.
This came hours after the National Liquor Traders Council wrote to him urging him not to reintroduce the alcohol ban as it would have a severe financial impact on the industry.
Ramaphosa slammed people who continued to defy regulations by organising social gatherings that resulted in infections and accused them of undermining the country’s fight against the virus.
“We now know of several tragic instances where people who have organised or attended social gatherings, including what people call “after tears” after funerals, including gatherings with family, have contracted the virus and have died,” Ramaphosa said.
Confirmed Covid-19 infections have surged to 276 242 and Ramaphosa indicated that projections were for about 500 000 before the end of the year.
The president indicated that 12 000 new cases – the equivalent of 500 infections an hour – were being reported daily.
“This may be a disease that is caused by a virus, but it is spread by human conduct and behaviour.
“We are in the midst of a deadly pandemic and we must act accordingly in line with the prevention measures we continue to communicate,” he said.
Ramaphosa added that while the recorded 4 079 fatalities remained low at 1.5%, health facilities across provinces were increasingly under a lot of strain due to increases in the number of hospitalisations. “We have heard of instances where people who are infected have been turned away from health facilities due to a lack of beds or essential supplies. This is deeply worrying. It means we have to move with even greater urgency to strengthen our strategy to manage the peak of infections.”
He said the alcohol ban would help ease the burden on clinics and hospitals that were currently confronted with alcohol-related injuries.
“We have therefore decided that in order to conserve hospital capacity, the sale, dispensing and distribution of alcohol will be suspended with immediate effect. There is now clear evidence that the resumption of alcohol sales has resulted in substantial pressure being put on hospitals, including trauma and ICU units, due to motor vehicle accidents, violence and related trauma,” the president said.
He indicated that the curfew, which starts today, will also boost the alcohol ban as most incidents had happened at night.
“Therefore, as an additional measure to reduce the pressure on hospitals, a curfew will be put in place between 9pm and 4am. Apart from people who need to travel to and from work or who need to seek urgent medical or other assistance during this time, everyone will be required to remain at home,” he said.
Ramaphosa revealed that his administration had considered returning most of the stricter lockdown restrictions which were imposed in recent months but decided against it due to their potential socio-economic damage.
“The advice we have received is that taking this step now would not necessarily achieve a significant reduction in the rate of transmission and would come at an extraordinary economic cost, putting more livelihoods at risk and potentially causing long-lasting social harm,” Ramaphosa said.
As part of preparing for the rise in infections, the government has made about 28 000 hospital beds available, more than 37 000 quarantine beds in private and public facilities across the country and had secured 1 700 additional ventilators, Ramaphosa said.
He said another 12 000 ventilation devices were in the process of being produced and delivered between the end of this and next month.
In a letter to Ramaphosa, the National Liquor Traders Council said the ban would result in job losses.
“The introduction of stricter regulations or a further ban on alcohol sales is neither a solution for the industry nor our country’s economy. The liquor industry has a deep and wide value chain which employs a little under 1 million people across the country. Any additional restriction on sales would spell disaster for the industry, as well as add to the loss of excise revenue to the fiscus,” wrote the council to Ramaphosa.