‘NO VACCINE, NO ALCOHOL’
…SA’s Limpopo government lobbies alcohol industry to help curb Covid-19 cases
JOHANNESBURG - Limpopo Premier Stan Mathabatha backed his Health MEC's approach in lobbying those who sell alcohol to consider turning away unvaccinated customers.
Health MEC Phophi Ramathuba reportedly indicated that they had already started to lobby the alcohol industry in the province to ask that they work together to curb Covid-19 cases.
"If our alcohol industry can come on board and indicate that they have the right to refuse to sell alcohol to someone refusing to be vaccinated ... We just need to be balancing the rights here," she told Jacaranda FM.
“Somebody says I have the right to buy alcohol anywhere I want, but also the sales person has got the right to say, no, I can't sell you this alcohol because you are not complying...,” Ramathuba said
Speaking at the vaccination rollout, for those aged 18-34, in Polokwane on
Tuesday, Mathabatha warned of the consequences of not vaccinating.
"When she (Ramathuba) unpacked it to me, it meant that, if you are not vaccinated, then the fourth wave will set in," he said.
"When she says, ' no vaccine, no alcohol', she meant that, once you are not vaccinated, the 'family meeting' is coming, and the president will be telling you that we have a fourth wave now - and alcohol contributes to the spreading of Covid-19.
"When drinking alcohol, you don't even know how to wear the mask properly."
He said the alcohol industry employed a lot of people. “So if you don't vaccinate, it means a lot of people in the industry may not be able to support their families.”
The Limpopo government has set a target of vaccinating three million people before a fourth wave hits.