Is another alcohol ban looming?

Apprehension. This is the lingering emotion in students and local liquor store owners in Potchefstroom after a year in which Covid-19 brought about several alcohol bans.

Although President Cyril Ramaphosa, in his address on 28 November, said that South Africa remains on lockdown level 1 until further notice, the new omicron variant and a possible fourth wave are concerning many.

After four consecutive alcohol bans since the beginning of lockdown at the end of March 2020, North-West University students have been walking around with the constant fear that liquor stores and bars will once again close. Liquor store owners are gritting their teeth because they are unsure if they will survive another ban on alcohol sales.

One of the local liquor store owners, Schalk Loots, said that the alcohol bans severely impacted them financially. Consequently, they had to increase product prices by 14 percent. Yet, there has been no financial recovery and liquor sales decreased by 20 percent since the first ban.

According to Loots the volume of student traffic at the store in Cachet Park declined rapidly since last year. Students remain the business’ primary market.

The owner mentioned that the only thing that saved his business from the damage done by the alcohol bans, was the fact that the grocery store next door could cover the financial losses, employee salaries, the store’s rent, and electricity bills.

“Personally, I think other liquor stores without our advantage of having two businesses on the same site, will definitely suffer or fold if we get hit by another alcohol ban,” said Loots.

Christel Pieterse, the manager of another liquor store situated on the Bult, stated that they are struggling to keep their business going and had to increase their prices on alcoholic products because their suppliers’ prices went up.

“I don’t think these alcohol bans are effective or helpful at all, since people still paid exorbitant amounts of money to get their hands on alcohol during the lockdown even though it was illegal to do so,” said Pieterse.

The alcohol ban in South Africa did not only lead to a financial conundrum but influenced the social life of NWU students as well.

Chantel le Roux (22), a LLB student, states that people completely changed their attitude towards alcohol since it is labelled as a problem during the pandemic. “People who frequently enjoyed alcohol simply stopped drinking because of the lockdown,” said Le Roux.

Tiaan van Staden (23), a BA psychology and tourism management student, says that even though the alcohol ban and lockdown had some effect on student social life, he feels that the ban had some benefit in that he decided to live a healthier lifestyle.

On the other hand, a pharmacy student, Brandon Steenkamp (22), says that people are social beings, thus taking away the opportunity for them to socialise will cause them to develop health related problems. He also says that some people use these opportunities to relieve stress.

“The alcohol ban created a gap in our social life and stress relief methods” said Steenkamp.

Another LLB law student at the NWU, Amorette Noëth (23), mentions that her social life was impacted by these circumstances, since she became very anti-social due to the lockdown regulations. – Zané Neethling