What you said: No rush to stock up on booze after ban lifted

Readers are in no rush to refill their liquor cabinets after President Cyril Ramaphosa recently announced the lifting of the ban on alcohol sales.

Ramaphosa said licensed establishments are allowed to sell booze for off-site consumption between 10am and 6pm from Monday to Thursday, and alcohol sales for on-site consumption will be permitted as per licence conditions up to 8pm.

This follows a month-long ban on alcohol sales.

While many on social media celebrated the news, TimesLIVE reported alcohol retailers haven’t seen the surge in orders experienced when previous bans were lifted. 

This trend was also seen in the results of a poll on Tuesday asking readers if they stocked up after the announcement.

A total of 44% said they had not got around to a bottle store yet but would buy this week, 30% said they were over the whole thing.

17% said it had been a hard month and they were stocked up, and 9% said they had lost their job and could no longer afford alcohol.

On social media, some said people had “stocked up on illicit alcohol”, while others said they were more responsible this time.

“They looted so much alcohol, that made them get over it,” said Facebook user Aziza Sa’eed.

Ntlantla Michael said: “It depends on people’s pockets. Some don’t live for alcohol. Some only buy when they need for a moment. Stocking up will make you suffer financially on important stuff at home, especially if you are a family person feeding many people”.

“I’m still waiting for my R350 SRD [social relief of distress] grant,” joked Nhlanhla Khanyile.