Nearly 15,000 people in
Swaziland (eSwatini) could be laid off work without pay because the government
has reintroduced a ban on alcohol distribution during the coronavirus lockdown.
The prediction came from
Swaziland National Liquor Association (SNLA) Secretary General, Thamsanqa
Hlatshwako.
He said 14,800 workers
could be laid off. He said there were 3,700 liquor licence holders known to the
SNLA and each employed an average of four people.
He said the ban of alcohol
would have a devastating impact on the liquor industry’s workers.
The Times of
eSwatini reported on Thursday
(25 June 2020), ‘Hlatshwayo said they would not be able to remunerate any
employees for the next two months’.
The Swazi Prime Minister
Ambrose Dlamini announced
earlier in the week his government
had overturned a previous decision to allow the wholesale and distribution of
alcohol. It had previously been banned as one of a series of measures to combat
the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The new ban would be in place from 1 July
2020 for up to two months.
The Times reported,
‘Given the ban of alcohol by government, he [Hlatshwako] said the economic
repercussions would have a devastating impact on the liquor industry’s
workers.’
Hlatshwako said workers
would be on unpaid layoffs for the duration of the ban and some of them would
lose their jobs permanently.
In May, it was reported 224,000
bottles of beer were to be destroyed
because they had passed their sell-by dates because they could not be sold
during the lockdown.
In other coronavirus developments in Swaziland:
MEMBERS
OF THE Swaziland Senate
complained that precautions were not being taken to protect them from the virus
at the Senate House as there was no sanitation or screening. Deputy Prime
Minister Themba Masuku urged them to use facemasks but some complained they
were uncomfortable. Masuku said Senate should be fumigated every time senators
leave the house.
KING
MSWATI III, the absolute monarch of
Swaziland, pleaded with the Commonwealth to support private business in the
kingdom to create jobs once the pandemic was over. His Prime Minister Ambrose
Dlamini made a speech on his behalf to a virtual meeting of Commonwealth
leaders.
THERE HAD
BEEN a total of 690 positive cases and seven deaths (including
a 17-year-old boy) as of 24 June
2020 in Swaziland since the crisis began, according to official figures from
the Ministry of Health. The 17-year-old had pre-existing chest conditions.
See also
Swaziland
Govt launches fund to help workers laid-off by coronavirus lockdown
Tens
of thousands of jobs at risk in Swaziland as coronavirus pandemic continues
Coronavirus
lockdown costs thousands of jobs in Swaziland, people evicted from homes
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