As the country's third alcohol ban approaches a month since the government imposed it in December, the liquor industry's concern is growing that South Africans' thirst for booze has left the door wide open for illicit trade.
In the past two weeks, its call for the government to lift the ban on the sale alcohol has intensified and one of its biggest concerns is that the illicit alcohol market that runs parallel to legitimate businesses will further entrench itself and grow, pushing legitimate businesses out of the market.
The ban was meant to have been lifted on 15 January, but the sharp rise in Covid-19 cases led to the government extending it by another month to keep hospital beds free of alcohol-related trauma cases.
