Ban booze immediately, says Malema ahead of Ramaphosa’s address

EFF leader Julius Malema has made an impassioned plea to President Cyril Ramaphosa to immediately ban alcohol sales ahead of the Easter weekend.

This comes as Ramaphosa is due to address the nation at 7.30pm on Tuesday.

Malema insinuated that alcohol was a contributing factor to many of SA’s problems, and suggested that if sales were banned until next Tuesday, there would be less damage.

There would be “no accidents and no spread of the coronavirus”, he said, because alcohol “is a big problem and the trauma units are going be free, allowing hospitals to deal with a possible rise of a third wave” of Covid-19 infections.

“The president must close alcohol [sales] for the Easter weekend. Then half of our problems are done. No transportation and selling of alcohol should be allowed unless it’s a sit-in. We are asking if he can please close alcohol,” Malema told a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

His call comes as the country faces a possible third wave of the pandemic.

“People like alcohol but nothing good ever comes out of it,” Malema argued.

The SA Liquor Brand owners Association (Salba) has submitted an urgent request to co-operative governance and traditional affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and health minister Zweli Mkhize for information about the rationale behind a potential ban on alcohol sales over Easter.

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