South Africa's wine industry is suffering again. Another wave of infection is rolling across the country. Now, for the fourth time since the beginning of the pandemic, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has imposed a total ban on the sale of alcohol. The ban is to last 14 days. With the ban, the government wants to reduce the additional pressure on hospitals caused by emergencies related to alcohol consumption. Wine exports are – in contrast to previous measures – not affected.
The producers' association Vinpro has sharply criticised the measure and wants to take action against it. "A blanket political approach to restricting wine sales is unnecessary, unjustified and counterproductive," said Vinpro executive director Rico Basson. "The two-week ban now imposed follows 19 weeks of lost sales over the past 15 months, which is having a devastating effect on the wine and tourism sector, which employs more than 269,000 people."
The organisation had already announced its intention to file a lawsuit against the government and the measures. Now Vinpro has filed an application for a temporary injunction to have the ban on the sale of wine in the Western Cape province, where the majority of American wine production is located, lifted.
"A large number of our wine producers and wineries are small – more than 80 percent of the 529 wineries are small and medium enterprises and rely on direct sales to customers. Although wine exports are still possible, the industry exports less than 50 percent of its annual production, with the other half sold domestically. Without government financial support for these businesses, their prospects and those of their employees are extremely bleak."
Vinpro reports that they had already approached the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) and suggested specific measures "that would ensure a balanced approach to contain the spread of Covid-19 while keeping the economy going". However, these proposals have not been considered and pursuing legal action for producers seems inevitable. aw
