The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Beer Association of South Africa (BASA), Patricia Pillay, tells the Business Hour the illicit alcohol market has grown exponentially making it difficult for the industry to regain the momentum it had prior to the pandemic.

Pillay says the industry does welcome the government's move not to ban alcohol sales, as Covid-19 cases rise. On Sunday 30 May, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the country would be moving to adjusted lockdown level 2, with restrictions placed on gatherings and the curfew moved an hour earlier.

Pillay says reducing the sizes of gatherings is a logical way to fight the third wave of the virus which has ravaged Gauteng, Free State, and the Northern Cape thus far.

She says the industry, which shed 7400 jobs, lost R 14,2 billion in revenue and R7,8 billion on taxes due to the pandemic, is still reeling and could not afford another ban, let alone the impact on the South African economy as a whole.