Exporters’ Club Western Cape (ECWC) has appealed to transport minister Fikile Mbalula to urgently lift the lockdown restrictions placed on South African wine producers because of the “dire situation the industry is in”.
Lockdown restrictions placed on wine exporters were recently eased following the publishing of a full concession that Mbalula’s ministry granted to wine producers in the Government Gazette.
Whereas an initial concession gave producers the go-ahead to complete this year’s harvest and all agricultural activities in relation to it, the full concession paved the way for the R30-billion industry to continue.
Last Thursday, however, following sporadic looting of locked-down liquor outlets, Mbalula re-instituted a ban on the transportation of alcohol products.
ECWC chairman Terry Gale says the club’s take is that all exports (in their sector) must be deemed essential cargo as it is essential for the survival of the Western Cape’s economy.
Gale says there is concern that the restrictions are back in place because of crowds breaking into liquor outlets.
For an industry that employs millions in a province exporting 95% of South Africa’s wine, Gale asked: “Can we afford to stop the industry in its tracks in peak export season because people are looting the stores – surely this would happen in any case, not because of.”
He says it’s a matter of urgency that the restrictions be lifted – “for the sake of all those who depend on it”.
