Tshwane mayor calls for booze ban to be lifted as cases decline
“We must find the balance between the protection of lives and livelihoods. We must open our economy.”
Tshwane mayor Randall Williams has made calls for the economy to be reopened as the metro’s Covid-19 cases decline in just a week.
On 26 January the metro recorded 5 922 active Covid-19 cases. A week ago, on 19 January there were 13 399 active Covid-19 cases.
“This is a decrease of 7 477 active cases during the past week,” Williams said.
“The day-to-day increase in cases have maintained a downward trend while we have witnessed significant progress in the recovery rate in the city.”
Williams said while the metro would continue to monitor and track the situation, there was a need for government to start opening some activities in the economy, such as the sale of alcohol.
It is almost a month since the national government instituted alert level 3 lockdown restrictions which included a curfew and a total ban on the sale of alcohol.
“I call on the national government to urgently begin reviewing these restrictions in order to ensure that we do not cause further harm to crucial economic sectors in the country,” he said.
“We must find the balance between the protection of lives and livelihoods. We must open our economy.
“There are reasonable approaches that can be implemented while we continue to monitor the spread of Covid-19 and manage the strain being placed on our hospitals.”
Williams said alcohol sales could be limited from Monday to Thursday. He also called for the curfew to be extended.
He said government needed to permit licensed establishments and restaurants to sell alcohol to their customers and permit later closing times by easing the curfew.
“Continued restrictions on the sale of alcohol affects multiple stakeholders in a value chain that spans and affects thousands of jobs in this country,” he said.
“This includes farmers, logistic companies, bottle manufacturers, the breweries, the alcohol retail sector, the restaurant and hospitality sector and various other stakeholders.”
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