The Gauteng Liquor Board has reversed its decision to extend trading hours for alcohol on Sunday to accommodate an influx of visitors for the ANC’s 105th anniversary.
It said it did not want to create a perception that it's promoting alcohol abuse. Although "there were sufficient reasons to relax the trading hours", the board was concerned about sending the wrong message.
The board confirmed that the application to extend the trading hours was made by liquor traders, not the ANC.
The about-turn came in the wake of a public outcry following the initial announcement.
The ANC Women’s League said that the ANC’s birthday rally on January 8 at Orlando stadium could not be viewed as a drinking spree that required liquor trading hours to be relaxed by liquor boards.
League secretary Meokgo Matuba said the decision, which had been endorsed by Gauteng Economic Development MEC Lebohang Maile, was contrary to the spirit of the annual January 8 rally, whichstarted in 1972.
“Members and supporters of the ANC attend January 8 events to listen to the president of the ANC delivering the ANC national executive committee statement [no matter what] is suggested by the [liquor board] narrative,” she said.
She said the league “will not allow anyone or any institution to attempt to drag the good name and credibility of the ANC in the mud”.
“The narrative of portraying members and supporters of the ANC coming to January 8, as people who will require extra hours to purchase liquor is a blatant attempt to insult the principles and values that the ANC stands for,” Matuba said.
The league appealed to Premier David Makhura to condemn the liquor board’s decision because it “tarnishes the good name of our glorious movement”.
Maile said earlier that the event was expected to contribute positively to the economy of the province, citing tourism and hospitality as the potential beneficiaries.
He said local businesspeople, particularly small-scale traders, would gain from the potential economic spin-offs as a result of extended trading hours.
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