Booze industry cancels sponsorship of mass events amid Covid-19 concerns
The alcohol industry has taken a decision to cancel the sponsorship of all mass events this festive season amid concern over the rise in Covid-19 infections.
his was confirmed by the Beer Association of South Africa (BASA) during a virtual press conference on Monday.
BASA also announced a series of stringent measures it has put in place over the festive period to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
“With regards to events, we as the alcohol industry have canceled our sponsorship of mass events, our sponsorships of brand-led events,” said BASA CEO Patricia Pillay.
“It’s the events where you will see one of our signage of one of our brands and this is not in light of what happened recently like the rave in Durban, it’s in regards to saying that we don’t want to encourage the gatherings, we don’t want to encourage the super-spreader events. We want you to gather in small family events, we want you rather to gather to drink in moderation.”
The announcement by BASA comes ahead of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s address on Monday night, which will detail additional and more stringent Covid-19 regulations in the country.
Last week, President Ramaphosa announced Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape as the country’s first Covid-19hotspot.
There is also concern over rising Covid-19 numbers in the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
The latest report by Health Minister Zweli Mkhize confirmed that KwaZulu-Natal has overtaken the Eastern Cape as the province with the most new Covid-19 infections.
