Beer Association: Lifting of booze sale restrictions will safeguard jobs
The Beer Association of South Africa (Basa) believes the lifting of restrictions on the sale of alcohol will not only helpsafeguard jobs, but also assist the survival of small businesses.
On Wednesday, President Cyril President Ramaphosa announced that all liquor outlets would be able to trade duringnormal trading hours.
“The lifting of the restrictions will therefore have a positive impact when it comes to safeguarding jobs and small businesses as well as bringing in much needed tax revenue into the fiscus,” says Basa CEO Patricia Pillay.
ALSO READ: Cabinet extends state of disaster again amid rising Covid-19 numbers
“As a result of continued lockdown restrictions, 15% of craft breweries have been forced to close down over the past few months. Many breweries that have managed to stay open have been forced to retrench staff, resulting in hundreds of job losses across the sector.”
Although Pillay says the industry may not be hiring more people yet, it will assist its recovery.
"All it is going to do is to help us to recover as people will be going back to their normal hours of work."