Winde Calls on President Ramaphosa to Ease Ban on Booze, Beaches
- Alan Winde has called on President Ramaphosa to convene a special President's Coordinating Council meeting
- The Western Cape Premier feels that its high time some lockdown restrictions are relaxed
- Winde is calling for, to name a few, a lifting of the ban on beaches and liquor trade
PAY ATTENTION: Join Briefly News' Telegram channel! Never miss important updates!
Western Cape Premier Alan Winde has now called upon President Cyril Ramaphosa to convene a special President's Coordinating Council meeting.
Source: Getty Images
This request was contained in a letter sent to the President, detailing his proposals for some lockdown restriction amendments.
Among other things, Winde has called for the ban on beaches and public spaces to be lifted, the curfew amended and the sale of liquor for offsite consumption granted for certain days.
The Premier noted that there has been a steady decline in active cases in the Western Cape:
“We are saying, we don’t have to go all the way, but we have to find a happy medium. At the moment, the balance is out. We have also motivated this through showing the impact on jobs in the province. We have put sufficient healthcare response in place; the extra beds that we have put in place; how we managed the oxygen; how we have managed through the peak with bringing on extra staff, etc.”
Western Cape Minister of Agriculture, Dr Ivan Meyer has added his voice to the calls for the liquor ban to be lifted.
Meyer pointed out that wine export is the third-largest export of South Africa's economy with the industry set to lose R2 billion and nearly 5 600 jobs in the province alone:
“I have now written an urgent letter to the national government requesting them to immediately lift the ban on the sale of alcohol. It will help to save lives, and livelihoods the economy of the Western Cape is dependent on agriculture, and wine is an agricultural project. We must save jobs in the wine industry.”
Earlier, Briefly.co.za reported that Apiwe Nxusani-Mawela the first black female brewer in South Africa recently spoke out about how the alcohol ban has affected her business in a way that it will be hard for it to survive, even if the ban is lifted now.
Speaking during a heartbreaking interview, Apiwe says that she had taken out millions of rands loans in 2020 to help her keep her business afloat when the full impact of Covid-19 first hit South Africa.
"2020 was the worst year ever for me. Government grants don’t fund the alcohol industry, so I got a loan. The biggest heartache for me is that I owe millions. I put my house, my everything – the future of my kids depend on me, what if I can’t pay this back,"
Enjoyed reading our story? Download BRIEFLY's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major South African news!
Source: Briefly News
