South Africa's liquor traders have called for practical solutions to the ban of alcohol sales following the release of a report detailing the growth of the illicit trade within the industry.
Over the past year, the alcohol industry has been at odds with the government on its choice to impose a series of trade bans to make hospital beds available for Covid-19 patients and hospitals free of alcohol-related trauma cases.
One of its biggest points of contention was that the bans fuel the growth of the illicit alcohol market, which, according to a recent Euromonitor International report, is valued at R20 billion and has been growing at a compound annual growth rate of 17% since 2017.
"The illicit alcohol trade has grown like an aggressive cancer under cover of the alcohol bans, which forced consumers to buy from previously unheard-of sources, while the legal industry was shut down by the government," said Lucky Ntimane, the convenor of the National Liquor Traders Council, in a statement on Saturday.
Ntimane added the growth of the illicit market was something law enforcement agencies would grapple with for years to come, since illegal trade was now embedded in communities, while supply and distribution networks have become more sophisticated.
"This has serious long-term consequences for the legal sector, which has lost ground to the criminal networks, as well as for the under-resourced police and [SA Revenue Service], which has already lost R11.3 billion in uncollected taxes thanks to the illicit trade."
He urged the government to collaborate with the industry for solutions that would help manage the pandemic while keeping legitimate alcohol trade going.