29 Aug 2021

Parliament has amended the Liquor Act to make it legally binding to liquor distributors or wholesalers liquor license to only sell liquor to license holders.

Presenting the Liquor (Amendment) Bill, Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Mr Mmusi Kgafela said amending the act would help regulate liquor trade decisively to curb ills and harms associated with excessive alcohol consumption.

Mr Kgafela expressed optimism that the proposed amendments would help curb alcohol abuse as well as reduce proliferation of liquor outlets.

He said the amendments would also empower small to medium sized liquor enterprises that had in the past been complaining about competing for customers with wholesalers and major distributors that sold alcohol to individuals for consumptions instead of trading purposes.

He thus noted that the Competition Authority would in the near future embark on an exercise to guard against positioning of dominance due to the vertical integration in the liquor industry.

Minister Kgafela raised concern that the current ban on the sale of alcohol seemed not to serve the intended purpose because of illicit sale of alcohol countrywide.

The minister further indicated that the reason behind the ban was that alcohol had ‘negative effects on adherence to COVID-19 protocols’.

He said government made a critical decision to ban the sale of alcohol to reduce the strain on health services already experiencing extreme pressure. 

Mr Kgafela said it was disappointing that illegal alcohol consumption remained on the rise despite the ban.

He highlighted that the proposed amendments intended to further strengthen alcohol regulations even beyond the COVID-19 era with measures to be prescribed by the minister.

Clause 39(A), therefore, states that ‘where the minister, in consultation with the minister responsible for health and wellness, determines that carrying on a trade in liquor or business in liquor poses a danger to public health or that a danger to public health is likely to occur, the minister may prescribe such measures as may be necessary.”

More emphasis, he said, would be on the enforcement of the act particularly in ensuring that a liquor bottle store license holder complied with the off-site liquor consumption as stipulated in the regulations.

MPs, however, pleaded with the minister to immediately lift the alcohol ban over fears of a total collapse of the liquor industry amid increased illicit trading. ENDS