Times Of Swaziland: HIGH COURT TO DECIDE SNLA BID ON ALCOHOL BAN

HIGH COURT TO DECIDE SNLA BID ON ALCOHOL BAN
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BY STANLEY KHUMALO AND MBONGISENI NDZIMANDZE on 30/06/2020 23:55:00


MANZINI – Liquor outlets will know their fate through the High Court.
Following the failure by the two parties, government and the Swaziland National
Liquor Association (SNLA) to reach common ground regarding the banning of the
sale of alcohol, the matter will now be decided by the High Court.
This follows that members of SNLA instructed their lawyer, Jose Rodrigues of
Rodrigues & Associates, to move an urgent application seeking an order to compel
government to lift the alcohol ban.
When reached for comment, the attorney representing SNLA confirmed receiving
instructions from the client on an urgent basis to challenge government on the
ban of alcohol sales in the country.
Instruction
The instruction from SNLA follows government being adamant that it was not
reversing its decision on the alcohol sales ban. This was communicated through a
letter written by the Attorney General (AG), Sifiso Khumalo.
The ban is anticipated to start today as announced by the Prime Minister,
Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini, last week Tuesday. The premier announced that
government had decided to stop the wholesale and distribution of liquor with
effect from today, seeing that the consumption of alcohol was among the leading
causes of the spread of the coronavirus.
On the other hand, the SNLA is keen to engage government.
Secretary General of SNLA Thamsanqa Hlatshwayo said he had been mandated by
members of the association to schedule a meeting with government, following that
in a letter written by the AG, the State said it was open to engagements.
Hlatshwayo said they were seeking audience with government to establish what it
was bringing to the table.
He said based on the contents of the correspondence from government, stating
that the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade remained available for
engagements with their members, they were also open to establish a way forward.
However, Hlatshwayo was quick to say this did not mean that they were deviating
from filing court papers.
Revolve
The secretary general said the engagements would revolve around what would
happen to their orders from Eswatini Beverages as they were, by yesterday, still
receiving their orders.
“We had ordered alcohol from the supplier and some of us are yet to get the
stock while others received theirs today (yesterday).”
Hlatshwayo wondered what would happen to the stock delivered yesterday as they
were expected not to operate from this day forward.
Worth noting is that yesterday, around the hub, trucks from Eswatini Beverages
were seen delivering alcohol to some liquor outlets.
Also noted within the city’s liquor outlets, was that there were no long
queues of customers seeking to buy in bulk as it was the last day.