SA stuck with 640 million litres of unsold wine – thanks to the alcohol ban

The Western Cape Government has moved to highlight the devastating impact caused by the various alcohol bans throughout lockdown. On three separate occasions, booze sales have been halted completely – decimating the liquor market and creating thousands of job losses. However, the amount of wine going to waste is simply criminal.

South Africa ‘stuck’ with 640 million litres of wine

Regional structures of the DA estimate that an eye-watering 640 million litres of ‘excess wine stocks’ have been left to pile up over the past 11 months or so. With intermittent bans placed on hospitality venues, alcohol consumption, and international exports, various wineries have been left with an ‘unshiftable’ amount of vino.

Andricus van der Westhuizen is the Western Cape’s Agricultural Spokesperson. He revealed that this huge wine backlog is likely to encourage the ‘underground market’ to undermine legally-run businesses in the weeks and months ahead. The politician has also branded the most recent alcohol ban as ‘unscientific’.

“The DA in the Western Cape is deeply concerned about the over 640 million litres of wine stock currently held by producers and distributors, and the potential for this to worsen illicit trade through dangerous underground markets. This was a direct result of an unscientific continuation of the liquor ban under amended lockdown level 3 regulations.”

Andricus van der Westhuizen

Problems caused by the alcohol ban

If having a huge surplus of wine doesn’t sound like much of problem, then it’s worth considering the knock-on effects these unused stocks come with: Figures released by the DA show just how brutal prohibition has been for the local economy.

• – The first two alcohol bans resulted in an estimated loss of R7.5bn in revenue.
• – A total of 80 wineries were forced to close.
• – A further 350 producers went out of business.
• – Approximately 18 000 employees are said to have lost their jobs.
• – Issues such as ‘insufficient processing’ and ‘not enough storage capacity’ have also been raised…

“SA's 2021 wine harvest is commencing this week; the industry has more than 640 million litres of stock, of which 250 to 300 million litres million is uncontracted. This poses a material risk of insufficient processing and storage capacity for the new harvest” — @RicoBasson

— Wandile Sihlobo (@WandileSihlobo) February 1, 2021

Impact of alcohol ban ‘devastating’ for wine producers

Van der Westhuizen also revealed that the Western Cape Government is working with industry titans to assess the full impact of the latest alcohol ban. But, according to the provincial spokesperson, the damage has already been done:

“Whilst we welcome the unbanning of alcohol sales, the repercussions must still be considered and the industry consulted. I will invite wine stakeholders Vinpro, Agri-Western Cape, and Wines of SA to brief members on the full extent of the impact of the alcohol bans, their interactions with governments, and proposed way forward in managing excess stocks.”

“The ban on liquor has now been lifted, allowing the sale of alcohol for offsite consumption from Monday to Thursday, as well as the sale of wines at wine estates over the weekend. Although this is a step in the right direction to save businesses and livelihoods, the consequences of all three bans are still strongly felt and will be for some time to come.”

Andricus van der Westhuizen