The South African Liquor Traders Association (Salta) has submitted a detailed plan to the government outlining protocols to maintain and ensure social distancing.
Restricting trade to 12 hours a week is bound to lead to long queues outside off-licences. Even if retailers make arrangements to limit the number of customers inside a shop at any given time, the bottleneck at the door, particularly near closing time, will deliver the perfect environment for the transmission of the disease.
“The spread of the disease results from proximity. That is why social gatherings are prohibited. The availability of alcohol for consumption in a home environment is a constitutional right. The proposed regulation does not stand the test of proportionality, and appears highly arbitrary. Why only Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays? Why only from 8am to midday? This smacks of capriciousness,” he said.
While they are as keen as their customers for the restrictions on the sale of liquor to be lifted, they have framed their proposal to include an undertaking to manage the relevant health and safety protocols, restricting the number of employees in each workplace. To manage the initial surge in demand in the first week, they have suggested using the surnames of purchasers as a means of limiting the days and times of purchase: surnames beginning with A-M will be able to buy on Monday and Wednesday, and those beginning with N-Z on Tuesday and Thursday.
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