Times Of Swaziland: GOVT STICKS TO ALCOHOL BAN DECISION

GOVT STICKS TO ALCOHOL BAN DECISION
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BY MBONGISENI NDZIMANDZE AND SIBONGILE SUKATI on 30/06/2020 00:32:00


MBABANE – Government is not reversing its decision on the alcohol ban.  This
is contained in a letter written by the Attorney General, Sifiso Khumalo, in
response to a concern raised by the Swaziland National Liquor Association (SNLA)
on the ban of liquor sale and distribution, starting tomorrow.
The Prime Minister (PM), Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini, last week Tuesday announced
that government had decided to stop the wholesale and distribution of liquor
with effect from July 1, 2020, seeing that the consumption of alcohol was among
the leading causes of the spread of the coronavirus.
Khumalo said Regulation 32 of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Regulations 2020 gave
the PM and ministers powers to issue guidelines to address, prevent and combat
the spread of COVID-19.
Decisions
“Client (government) instructs that at all material times, government has
taken decisions towards combating COVID-19 rationally with guidance from  health
experts, professionals and World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines,” reads
government’s response in part.
The four-page response to Rodrigues & Associates, who is representing SNLA, was
also copied to the PM, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade Manqoba Khumalo
and Health Minister Lizzie Nkosi. Government informed the SNLA that there was no
favouritism among businesses and if anything, things being normal, it was
government’s wish to have all businesses operate to sustain the economy.
“However, government also has a duty to take into account advices of health
experts and professionals to the effect that alcohol is a factor in the spike of
this virus, and prohibit the sale of alcohol for the time being to save lives of
emaSwati and avoid overwhelming the health system,” reads the letter.
The lawyers representing SNLA had stated that in as much as it was appreciated
that government had a fundamental duty to protect and contain the virus, which
called for a concerted effort of all citizens including the business sector, it
was their contention that their client was of the view that the ban on the sale
was being arbitrary and irrationally applied. According to the lawyers, the
decision was devoid of holistic considerations and input from SNLA members.
Meanwhile, the AG said government, in particular the Ministry of Commerce,
Industry and Trade, remained available for engagements with members of SNLA as
it had been the case in the past.
Government, through the AG, further pleaded for unity and cooperation in the
fight against what was described as an unprecedented pandemic.
Government said the pandemic had been declared a National Emergency in terms of
Section 29 of the Disaster Management Act of 2006.
Constitution
The AG went on to cite Section 37 of the Constitution, which stipulates that;
“Nothing contained in or done under the authority of a law shall be held to be
inconsistent with or contravention of any provision of Chapter III of the
Constitution to the extent the law authorises the taking, during any period of
public emergency, of measures that are reasonably justifiable for dealing with
the situation that exist during that period.”
The State emphasised that Eswatini was faced with a crisis and a threat to human
life following the outbreak of COVID-19.
Government pointed out that it had imposed various measures in an effort to
combat the virus and contain its escalation, prohibition of sale of liquor from
July 1, 2020 being one of those measures.
“These measures, evidently come with derogations from normalcy – they are,
however, permissible in terms of the Constitution of 2005, Disaster Management
Act of 2006 and COVID-19 Regulations 2020,” said government. According to
government, the decision to suspend the sale of alcohol for two months was
rationally related to the purpose of issuing guidelines in terms of Regulation
32 of the COVID-19 regulations.
SNLA lawyer, Jose Rodrigues, said he was still to go through the responses and
thereafter, he would be in a position to advise his clients on the way forward.
Meanwhile, members of the public have only today to buy their alcoholic drinks,
before the ban kicks in.
(Also see Page 27)