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4 DAYS TO GO, SOCIAL MEDIA ABUZZ

22/10/2020 00:39:00 BY VUYILE DLAMINI

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MANZINI – Four days to go!

Social media was abuzz as excited imbibers shared images of Eswatini Beverages trucks delivering alcoholic beverages to different bottles stores and wholesalers around the country.

Some of the images shared and widely circulated on various social media platforms were reportedly captured in Matsapha, where the delivery trucks were seen offloading alcohol at Tops at Spar and the Correctional Services staff canteen (junior and senior bars).

It is worth mentioning that there are four days until the reopening of the sale of alcohol nationwide, after Prime Minister Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini announced the lifting of the alcohol ban.

Announcement

The PM made the announcement to lift the ban on the production, manufacturing and wholesaling of alcohol during a press conference held two weeks ago, and it will come into effect next Monday.

Since the ban on the sale of liquor, the black market has been thriving.

When announcing the news, the PM stated that distributors, wholesalers and retailers shall operate from Monday to Friday, from 9am to 5pm.

Dlamini stated that there shall be no sale of liquor on weekends, and that it would only be sold for home consumption.

Also included in the regulations attached to the lifting of the alcohol ban is that drinking in public places, at picnics and the hosting of house parties would not be allowed.

Eswatini Beverages Corporate and Legal Affairs Manager Mpumelelo Makhubu confirmed that deliveries started on Monday.

“We have started delivering, an exercise which we started on Monday,” he said. However, he did not divulge more information than that delivery had already started.

Meanwhile, the sale of alcohol was not initially banned at the start of the partial lockdown as the initial statutes of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Regulations in Section 21 (1) only banned liquor consumption outlets including bars and clubs which it was listed, shall cease to operate at the commencement of the regulations.

At the time, premises which sold liquor and also operated as an accommodation establishment according to the guidelines, were expected to provide adequate space and comply with all directives and guidelines issued by government and the World Health Organisation (WHO) in respect of reducing chances of the infecting others with COVID -19.

At that time, bottle stores were allowed to open between 11am to 6pm from Monday to Saturday.

Since the ban on the sale of liquor there has been a lot of sale of booze through the black market and the illegal sellers made a killing due to charging inflated prices of alcohol.