#LockdownSA “Why alcohol, and why now?” asks the DA
The Democratic
Alliance says the country does not need any banning of
alcohol, but rather for vaccines to be rolled out.
Party leader John Steenhuisen was responding to President Cyril Ramaphosa's address to the nation on Tuesday evening.
Ramaphosa announced that the off-site sale of alcohol would be banned during the Easter weekend.
In his so-called “family meeting”, Ramaphosa denied that there is a stall in the vaccine rollout.
He assured the nation that the plan hadn’t changed and that the second phase would kick-off mid-May.
ALSO READ: Ramaphosa: Phase 2 vaccine drive to begin mid-May
Steenhuisen says the ban on alcohol is scientifically unproven.
"You might say: but it’s only four days, and it’s only off-site consumption sales.
"But it’s four entirely meaningless days. And the only reason we’re seeing this senseless ban is because the things that would actually make a difference are seemingly beyond the abilities of this government," Steenhuisen retorted.”
Steenhuisen also warned South Africans to remain sceptical about the roll out of vaccines until there have been confirmation.
"Without a confirmed delivery date for a confirmed amount of vaccines, this means absolutely nothing.
"Just as all the President’s earlier assurances of “vaccines secured” meant nothing when it turned out that these stocks were not available to us.
"We have already missed our own deadline to vaccinate our healthcare workers by a massive margin, and we are certain to miss our own deadline to vaccinate two-thirds of our population by an even bigger margin."
